6 



7 



8 ^ 



9 ^ 



10 4 



114 



I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 

^ . " t 

I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ? 



1 



.^ 



*i 



LAWS 



OF 



HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 



AND 



PROGRESS 



^ '' ' ' 

BY 

T. W. TAYLOR, M.D. o 






COLUMBUS, 0.: 

PUBLISHED BY E. H. MYERS, M. D. 
1880. 



?r 



&f^^* 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1880, by 

T. \V. TAYLOR, M. D., 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. All rights reserved. 



COTT i HANN, 

PRINTERS 
COLUMBUS, O. 



DEDICATION. 

TO THAT LARGE AND RAPIDLY INCREASING CLASS 
OF MY FELLOW- CITIZENS WHO ARE 

EARNESTLY SEARCHING FOR LIGHT, 

IN RELATION TO 

THE WAYS OF TRUE LIVING, 

THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



'' I ^HE inquisitive public will no doubt raise the 

^ question, why add another to the already long- 
list of books upon the subject of the Laws of Hu- 
man Development ? 

My answer is, that thirty years' experience in the 
practice of medicine has impelled me to believe that 
there is no subject of even ordinary interest to the 
mass of the people, of which there is such lament- 
able want of correct information, nor one in which 
ignorance is so destructive to the best interests of 
all mankind. 

Again, nearly all the books on this subject have 
been written for the professional reader and for the 
school-room, and the greatest of all the schools, the 
family circle, has been left unprovided for. 

This book is intended especially for the home circle, 
and no effort has been made to please the profes- 
sional reader ; but the desire has been to make it 
instructive to every member of the household old 
enough to appreciate the importance of living true to 
nature's laws. In fact, the entire aim of the author 
has been to direct the minds of the people to the 



VI PREFACE. 

great truth, that human development is not a matter 
of mere chance, but that every step in the process 
is the result of natural law, and that to have normal 
development, all the necessary conditions of life must 
be provided in every case. 

These necessary conditions I have endeavored to 
point out and make plain to every reader, and to do 
so have introduced only such physiological data as 
the case seemed to require. In the preparation of 
this part of the work I have drawn from the works 
of Lambert, Dalton, Draper, Jacobi, Smith, Trail, 
Bain, LeConte and others, and have aimed to make 
my book a trustworthy guide to all persons who 
are desirous of learning how they may reach to 
higher states of physical, mental, and moral dev-el- 
opment. If it shall find its way into many homes, 
and throw a ray of light along the pathways of 
the young, the middle-aged and the old, and 
enable them to live purer and better lives, my 
highest ambition will be gratified. 

T. W. TAYLOR, M. D. 

Columbus, Ohio, 1879. 



IN DEX. 



CHAPTER I. 

PACK. 

Man's Progress Not Satisfactory — Undue Development (ff 
the Appetites and Passions — Faulty Development of 
Physical and Moral Powers — Lack of the Proper Ideas 
of Physiological Laws — Importance of Infant Training 

— Kindergartens Essential — All Training Should be in 
Harmon}' With Phj^siological Laws 1 — 27 

CHAPTER II. 
Of the Early Management of Children — Respiration and the 
Organs Concerned in It — Changes That Take Place in 
the Air and the Blood During Respiration — The Im- 
portance of the Proper Ventilation of Apartments — 
An Improved Plan of Warming and Ventilating 
Houses .'. 28—42 

CHAPTER III. 

On the Circulation of the Blood and of the Organs that bring 
it about — The Heart the Central Organ — The Arteries, 
Capillaries and Veins — The Heart a Ceaseless Worker 

— The Rapid Movement of the Blood — How Effected — 

Poem on the Blood, Etc 43—52 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Skin — Its Structure and Function — The Great Purifier 
of the Blood — Importance of Keeping it Clean — Water 
the Agent — The Various Kinds of Baths — Poem on the 
Skin .^ 53—63 

CHAPTER V. 
Muscular Structure — How Muscle is Formed — Muscular 
Movements and How Brought About — Exercise of the 
Muscles Necessary to Preserve Their Strength — Rest 
Equally Necessary to Rebuild Them 61—76 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Bones of the Body — How Developed — The Change 
in the Bones by Age — The Teeth a Part of the Bony 
Skeleton — Two Sets of Teeth— Number of Milk and 
Permanent Teeth — Rules for the Preservation of the 
Teeth 77—88 



Vlll INDEX. 



CHAPTKRVII. 



PA-GE 



The Organs of Digestion and their Action — Different Or- 
gans for Digestion of Different Classes of Foods — 
Mastication Necessary to Perfect Digestion —Stomach 
Digestion— Intestinal Digestion — Experiments on Dogs 
in Relation to Digestion — Prof. Dalton on Digestion — 
Tracing the Digested Substances Through the Sj'stem... 89 — 100 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Foods and Their Uses in the Human Economy — Definition 
of Food — Organized Substances Only Can Be Ur;ed as 
Foo(js — These of Vegetable Origin — How Vegetables 
Convert Mineral Substances Into Organic Compounds 
— AH Foods Divided Into Two Classes — The Wheat 
Grain a Perfect Food — The Composition of the Whole 
Wheat Grain and the Fine Flour Compared — Composi- 
tion of the Human Body — Importance of the Proximate 
Principles Used as Food Containing Mineral Substances 
— Waste Matter Discharged From the Bodv — Foods for 
Children— Inheritance. , f 101 — 126 

CHAPTER IX. 

Foods Continued — Plain Foods to Sustain Normal Condi- 
tions—Imperfect Foods Lead to Vice and Intemperance 
The Use of Artificial Stimulants Injurious to the Moral 
Nature as Well as the Physical — Bread the Staff" of 
Life — White Flour Bread Imperfect — Dr. Trail's Prize 
Bread — Light Bread and How Made — Yeast — What is 
Lost by Light Bread — The Cereal Grains— These With 
Vegetables and Fruits the Natural Food of Man — Ap- 
peal to Mothers — Reform Cociving Clubs — Coffee and 
Tea — Regular Meals — The Proximate Principles Re- 
quired in the Food— Examples of Different Dietaries.. 127 — 155 

CHAPTER X. 

Development of the Brain and Nervous System — The Brain 
Made Up of Two Sorts of Material — The Gray Sub- 
stance Necessary to Mental Force — The White Sub- 
stance Makes Up the Nervous Trunks — Impurities in 
the Blood Affecting the Brain — Unstable Condition of 
the Brain Substance — Bain on the Properties of Mat- 
ter and Mind — LeConte on the Derivation of Vital 
Force — Changes in the Chemical, Physical and Vital 
Forces — All Matter Exists in Four Planes — Changes of 
Force From a Lower to a Higher Plane — Ph3siology 
of the Mental and Moral Powers — Physical Condition 
Necessary to Mental Action — Exercise of the Mental 
Powers Indispensable to Mental Development — Neces- 
sity of Pure Environment — Proper Cultivation and 
Training 156—176 



INDEX. IX 



CHAPTER XI. 



Mental and Moral Development Continued— Public School 
Traininj: — Its Defects — It Must be Based Upon the 
Ph3'sioloi:ical Laws of Development — Wendell Phillips 
on the Public School Sj-stem — The Objects to be 
Soujiht in a Public School System— The Cultivation of 
the Observino; Powers— The Kindergarten — The Pri- 
mar}- School — Intermediate — Dr. Goodell's Views — 
High School Training — The Elevation of the Masses — 
Advice to Parents— The Moral Powers Should Be 
More Thoroughly Developed — The Moral Training by 
Parents '. 177—204 

CHAPTEE XII. 

The Phj'siological Laws Relating to the Clothing — These 
Disregarded — Dr. Willis on the Clothing of Children — 
The Dictates of Fashion the Law — Rules That Should 
Govern Mothers in the Preparation of Dress for Their 
Children— A Model Style for Little Girls— Fabhion 
Entails Lasting Burdens Upon Society— The Necessit}' 
of Sunlight in Living Rooms — Alice Carey 205 — 220 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Counsel to'.Young Ladies — The Power of Woman in Society 
— Woman Naturally a Teacher— Her Proper Training 
to Fit Her For Her Mission — Mrs. Sigourney on Wo- 
man's Mission— Self-Examination Necessary to Woman 
— Fashion Must Not Gain the Ascendency — The De- 
velopment of the Mental and Moral Natures Should be 
Woman's Great Concern — Physical Development Must 
Not be Neglected 221—233 

CHAPTER XIY. 

Counsel to Young Ladies Continued — Proper Course of 
Reading For Young Ladies — Light Literature Should 
Not Engross Too Much Time — The Physical Sciences 
Should Form Part of the Coarse— Biography and His- 
tory Not to Be Neglected — Household Science an Im- 
portant Study — Businsss Avocations Open to Women 
— Examples of Women Who Were Successful in Busi- 
ness Pursuits — The Cultivation of the Christian Graces. 234—249 

CHAPTER XY. 
Counsel to Young Men — The Importance of Observing the 
Physiological Laws in vStarting Out in Life — Character, 
of Commanding Importance— Preparation for the 
Business Life — The Mental and Moral Powers Should 
Control the Life — Their Growth Dependent Upon the 
Observance of Physiological Laws — The Blood Must be 
Kept Pure — Tobacco a Great Source of Impurit}^ 250—262 



X INDEX. 

• , PACK. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

ronnsel to Youno; Men Continued— The Formation of Bad 
Habits and Their Correction — Labor and Rest — The 
Social Principle — The Society of Woman Necessar}- to 
Man — Marriaji^e the Normal Condition — Sj'-stem All- 
fmportant — Livino" for a Purpose — Want of This a 
(Common Cause of Failure — Necessity of Building T'^p 
a Pure Physical Organism — The Mental and Moral 
Faculties to be the Controling Influence in the World.. 20:'. — 279 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The Vices and Corruptions of Society — Their Increase 
Along With the Growth of Civilization — The Causes 
that Produce Them — Agencies to Be Evoked for Their 
Cure— The Church — The Medical Profession — The 
Public Press— The Public School— The Family 280—300 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Changes in the Organism in Old Age — All the Powers of 
Life Become More Sluggish — Three Periods in Life — 
The Knowledge of Physiological Law Imperfect — The 
Reserve Force in the Human Constitution — This Should 
be Used for Useful Purposes — Changes in the Living of 
the Individual Should Conform to the Changes in the 
Organism — The Mental and Moral Powers Should be 
Kept Moderately Active — Obedience to Physiological 
Law the Only Waj^ to Reach a Full and Complete Life 
—William Cnllen' Brj^ant— Peter Cooper SOI— 316 



ERRATA. 



Chapter I., pau;e 18, 6th hue from top, between '"the" and "hu- 
man," read " laws of. " 

Chapter II., page 30, 18th line from top, between ' extendino;" 
and "it" read " into." 

Chapter VI., page 79, 9th line from bottom, between "bones'" 
and " from," read "and increasing." 

Chapter VII., page 95, 13th line from top, for "starch" read 
" stomach." 

Chapter X., page 173, 8th line from top, for "prevent" read 
" produce." 

Chapter XVII., page 294, 1st line, between ''and" and " this" 
read "if." 

Chapter XVIII. , page 303, first line, for " now " read " never." 



CHAPTER I. 



Mini's Progress not Satisf'actorj^ — Undue Development of the Ap- 
petites and Passions — Faulty Development of Phj-sical and 
Moral Powers — Lack of the Proper Ideas of Physiological 
Laws — Importance of Infant Training — Kindergartens Essential 
— All Training should be in Harmony with Physiological Laws. 

\ T 7HEN we look at the possibilities of man, en- 
V V dowed as he is with the faculty of reason and a 
moral sense, and then contemplate the paucity of results 
as exhibited by the nations even farthest advanced in 
civilization, the inquiry naturally suggests itself, why 
this failure of man to reach the high position so beauti- 
fully foreshadowed in his marvelous gifts. 

If we will examine into the doings of man in the most 
favored nations of the earth, we see him everywhere 
grasping after the most evanescent and worthless of the 
world's baubles, wearing out his existence in the pursuit 
of "trifles light as air," and that the least exercise 
of his reasoning powers would have convinced him could 
have given no satisfactory results. Claiming, as he does, 
to be the sole possessor of the wonderful faculty of rea- 
son, the cultivation and exercise of which opens up 
visions of beauty and grandeur and power almost trans- 
cending the highest flights of the imagination, yet with 
all these advantages, we find man everywhere, spending 
his life's energies in the pursuit of some selfish gratifica- 



2 IIiiDian Development and Ihognss. 

cation, which so often proves unsatisfying and worthless 
in the end. 

And while every one is ready to sound the praises 
of the noble hero who dispenses only blessings in his 
track, so all are equally unanimous in condemnation of 
him whose sole ambwtion is the gratification of his 
own selfish desires and appetites ; but with all this 
unanimity of sentiment on the part of the people in 
praise of the higher principles in man, and in con- 
demnation of the low and the vile, yet, if we faithfully 
scrutinize the actions of mankind, we find the vast ma- 
jority instigated and governed by the lower and baser 
faculties of their nature. All classes and conditions of 
people seem to recognize this fact, and endeavor to ac- 
count for it, on the theory of the natural depravity of 
man. It is claimed that while man came from the hand 
of his maker pure and unsullied, his first act of disobe- 
dience "brought sin and death into the world with all 
our woe ;" and thus by the fall of our first parents, all 
men are as ''prone to do evil as the sparks are to fly 
upward." 

This idea of the natural depravity of man, has been 
handed down through untold generations, and has di- 
rected the minds of men away from the various causes 
and influences that are constantly operating upon him, 
and leading him away from the paths of virtue and moral 
rectitude. Hence, but little progress has been made to- 
ward a rational exposition of man's conduct and actions. 
Never until science laid bare the workings of the inner 
temple of man, and traced every motive and influence 
that operates upon the human will back to its source, 
was any 7'cal progress made toward a satisfactory and ra- 
tional exposition of man's conduct. It is true, philoso- 



Hit)) I an Dcvclop))ic)it a)id Pivgirss. 3 

phers and metaphysicians had kept up a ceaseless tur- 
moil in the world of thought upon this subject, but 
nothing but the strictest scientific methods and demon- 
strations can ever lead to a full and trustworthy analysis 
of the laws that bring about the physical, mental and 
moral development of man. 

Science has successfully demonstrated the fact, that 
law is stamped upon every thing in nature, and that all 
events are the result of the workings of the laws that 
God has impressed upon all material substances. Then 
every advance looking toward the normal development 
of man's faculties, can only be successful, when made in 
conformity to the phyisological laws of development. 
A stepping outside of these laws in any direction, will 
always, sooner or later, produce an abnormal condition 
of man, that will inevitably lead to abnormal and faulty 
development. 

And as the mental and moral faculties of man are now 
known to have a physical basis in portions of the great 
center of the nervous system, the brain, it would seem 
but rational to conclude, that the growth and develop- 
ment of these mental and moral faculties cannot take 
place without there is growth and development of 
their physical basis, and this growth and development 
is also brought about by the constant observance of all 
the laws of life. In fact science is rapidly leading the 
minds of men away from the idea of chance, and is in- 
stilling into all thoughtful persons, the leading fact that 
nature's methods are all orderly, and in strict conformity 
with law. 

The more we learn of the organic world, as well as of 
dead matter, the more we must be convinced that 
nothing takes place in all the domain of nature, but is 



4 Hmnaii DevelopDicnt and Progress. 

brought about by the operations of definite laws arid 
forces; that no effect takes place in any department of 
nature without having a sufficient and pre-existing 
cause, and that like causes operating upon similar con- 
ditions will always produce like results. 

These leading principles applied to the investigation 
of man's conduct and actions, opens up a new field of 
thought and inquiry, and places the science of life upon 
a firm and solid basis, that must eventually lead to grand 
results. So soon as man recognizes the fact that his 
will is constantly subject to a multitude of unseen forces 
and influences,, and that the strongest influence oper- 
ating upon the will at the time, will always claim the 
victory, then will he seek to know the nature afid ex- 
tent of these forces and influences, and strive to find out 
how far the control of them is placed within himself. 

A very slight self examination cannot fail to convince 
any rational human being, that there are times when 
his will is under the control of the animal appetites and 
desires of his nature ; at other times it is guided by his 
reason ; at others by his conscience; and at other times 
again by some force outside of himself, and connected 
with his environment, but that the strongest force oper- 
ating at the time, will always determine the action. 
This statement must certainly coincide with the convic- 
tions of every person who has honestly looked into the 
workings of his own nature. In fact, it is but another 
form of expressing the idea so earnestly enforced by 
Solomon, that children should be trained up in the way 
they should go, and when they get old they will not 
depart from it. In other words, unfold and develop 
and strengthen the mental and moral faculties of chil- 
dren more highly than the appetites and passions, and all 



I hi 111 an Development eoid 7V(\(^ress. 5 

through Hfe the mental and moral powers will control 
the will, and lead to beautiful and s}'mmetrical lives. 
But leave these higher faculties undeveloped and un- 
cared for, and the appetites and passions will rule and 
reign supreme, and will transform into ravenous wolves, 
what under proper cultivation and training would have 
become ornaments to society, and blessings to the 
world. 

This is the teachings of the laws of human develop- 
ment, and if it were not so, then what would be gained 
by training up a child in the way it should go. If, when 
the mental and moral faculties are more highly devel- 
oped than the appetites and passions, and they do not 
direct the will and shape the actions of the individual, 
then these faculties had better be left uncultured and 
undeveloped. Utter mental and moral darkness is 
preferable to that enlightenment that leads to depravity 
and moral death. 

But an appeal to the self-consciousness of every in- 
telligent human being must be convincing evidence that 
the principle is true — that if the mental and moral 
powers are more highly developed than the lower ap- 
petites and passions, they will certainly control and 
shape the actions of the individual. And if this is the 
law of human development, then no vain boasting of 
the freedom of the will can change the fact or its con- 
sequences ; but an intelligent recognition of the law will 
teach man that the only way to bring the will under 
subjection to the principles of right, is to cultivate and 
develop the principles of right until they are strong 
enough to control the will and thus govern and direct 
the actions. 

Like so many other theories that have come down to 



6 Hiivian Development and Progress. 

us from the misty past, the idea of man's free will has 
stamped its impress upon the world of mankind for 
centuries past ; but its effects upon the actions of man 
have certainly been evil rather than good. 

Once let man feel that his own "sweet will," un- 
fettered and untrammeled, is to be the sole rule and 
guide of his actions, and that he can change and shift 
it at his pleasure, and he will not care to look at the 
various forces and influences that are constantl}^ opera- 
ting upon it, and shaping and moulding his life and actions. 

With all the refinement and polish that distinguishes 
this age and nation, man remains lamentably ignorant 
of himself. In the great struggle for wealth and show 
and glitter, he has found no time to investigate the 
laws and forces that are constantly operating upon and 
within himself; and while boasting of the freedom of 
the will, and his ability to shape his own actions and 
destiny, he has become the veriest slave to the baser 
appetites and desires of his nature. And while spend- 
ing his energies and his life's forces in the pursuit of 
that knowledge that will enable him to more fully min- 
ister to his own selfish desires and pleasures, he is en- 
tirely neglecting the acquisition of that knowledge that 
is of most worth : the knowledge of the laws and forces 
that shapes his ends and determines his destiny. 

To direct the minds of my fellow-men to these laws 
and forces, and to point out the transcendent importance 
to all classes of people, of the knowledge of their work- 
ings in the human constitution, is the object I have at- 
tempted in these pages. If we will but look at the low- 
est of known organic forms, we find them to be de- 
veloped by the operation of definite laws and forces that 
always produces the same forms, unless interrupted by 



IIiniUDi Dcvclopuuiit and Progress. 7 

some extraneous circumstance. And all the way up the 
scale of organic life, the same obedience to the behests 
of law is manifest everywhere, and in all living things. 

Long years of patient study of the vegetable and 
animal kingdoms, has enabled man to recognize and 
comprehend the laws and forces that bring about the 
growth and development of these lower orders of or- 
ganic life ; but man being endowed with reasoning 
powers and a moral sense, the same laws and forces 
were supposed not to apply to him. 

But scientific investigation has demonstrated the 
fact that all the higher faculties of man have a physical 
basis in portions of the great nervous centre, the brain, 
and that growth and development of these higher facul- 
ties cannot take place without the growth and develop- 
ment of their physical basis, and this is just as much the 
result of definite law^s and forces as is the simplest form 
of life known to the organic world. Then certainly 
there is no knowledge of so much worth to man as that 
which relates to the laws and forces that secures the full 
development of all the higher faculties and powers of 
his nature. It is true there are great difficulties attend- 
ing the investigation of the mental and moral powers of 
man, but these difficulties are not insurmountable to him 
who is wiUing to divest himself of all preconceived 
ideas and notions, and who enters upon the study with 
an ardent desire to find the truth and to be guided by it. 

But no investigation of the mental and moral powers 
can be of any avail when directed to the mind and mor- 
al sense apart from the physical body. These powers 
entirely elude our grasp when separate from their phys- 
ical basis, the brain, and defy all our efforts to investigate 
their properties and source. But so soon as scientists 



S I fuiiiaii Dcvclopiiiciit and Progress. 

directed their inquiries to the physical side of maii's 
nature, they found there was a definite equivalence be- 
tween mental manifestations and physical forces ; in 
other words, that the mental force in man is always in 
proportion to the destructive metamorphosis that takes 
place in the brain. 

In order to comprehend the nature and extent of this 
destructive metamorphosis, it will be necessary for the 
reader to have some knowledge of the anatomy and 
physiology of the brain and nervous structures, which 
will be explained further on in this work. And as the 
nervous system, the centre of which is located in the 
brain, is the great presiding genius that guides and di- 
rects all the operations of man's organism, without some 
knowledge of the workings of this most wonderful sys- 
tem, no correct idea of human life can be formed. In 
the chapters devoted to the development of the mental 
and moral powers, I have endeavored to give the reader 
a plain description of the physical changes that takes 
place in the brain of a man as the result of the action of 
the mental and moral powers ; and to show that there 
can be no mental and moral action in man, so far as we 
know, without these physical changes taking place. Of 
the exact nature of the mind of man, science does not 
attempt to determine ; it only claims to define the con- 
nection of the mind with its physical basis, and to ob- 
serve what takes place in its physical basis during the 
operation of the mental and moral powers, and to show 
that this action is always regulated by certain definite 
physiological laws. The result of the investigation of 
the mental and moral powers of man has demonstrated 
the fact that all mental and moral action is brought 
about at the expense of a portion of the brain substance. 



I luuuDi Dcvclopiiiciit ami fn^i^-nss. 9 

and that this destructive metamorphosis of brain is 
effected by the action of the oxygen the blood took from 
the air inhaled into the lungs during respiration upon 
the substance of the brain itself. The oxygen of the 
blood that circulates through the brain structure enters 
into chemical combination with the elements of a portion 
of the brain structure, and new compounds are formed 
that must now be taken up by the absorbents, and car- 
ried out of the system. 

Now all these physical changes that take place in the 
brain as the result of mental and moral action, are known 
to be brought about by the operation of the physiological 
laws ; and that these laws may effect the desired end, 
requires that certain definite conditions be always pres- 
ent. These conditions are, that there shall be a normal 
brain structure, and that pure oxygenated blood shall 
circulate through it. Unless these conditions be present 
in the human organism, we have no evidence of any 
mental or moral manifestations whatever. The oxyda- 
tion of no other substance than that of the cerebral 
hemispheres of man's brain, ever produced mental op- 
erations ; and as far as science has been able to de- 
termine, no mental operations are produced in any 
other way. These phenomena always taking place 
in connection with mental action, scientists have recog- 
nized it as a physiological law of life, and have drawn 
their conclusions from it. 

It would be but rational to suppose, then, that these 
physiological laws should form the basis of all educational 
systems, and would be a matter of the greatest concern 
by -all the people. But when we come to look at the 
educational institutions of the country, and sound the 
minds of the people, we find the utmost indifference in 
H 



lO I liiuiaii Dcvclopmciit and Progress. 

relation to all physiological laws, existing everywhere 
and among all classes of the people. The fact is not 
yet recognized that all the phenomena of life are brought 
about in obedience to inexorable law ; and therefore but 
little interest is manifested to know the laws that are 
ever operating within and upon man's organization. 
And if told how mental operations are produced, the 
majority of the people will insist that such great results 
cannot flow from so simple a process as the union of a 
little oxygen with the elements of the little cells that 
make up the gray substance of the brain. And yet we 
find similar processes take place everywhere in nature, 
and producing marvelous results. It is the union of 
oxygen with the fuel in the engine that sets free the 
force that draws the train ; it is the union of oxygen 
with the elements of the powder in the cannon that 
liberates the force that propels the ball with such, ter- 
rific velocity and power ; and wherever we look, we find 
this restless agent, oxygen, at work tearing down chemi- 
cal compounds, and releasing the force stored up in 
them. 

But the reader is no doubt ready to inquire if the 
operations of the human mind are nothing more than 
the union of oxygen with the elements of the cells of 
the gray matter of the brain? Is it possible the grand- 
est achievements of the human intellect are all brought 
about by the action of the oxygen in the capillary 
vessels of the brain upon the Carbon, Nitrogen, Hydro- 
gen, Phosphoric Acid, Sulphur, and other elements 
that make up the cells of the gray substance of the 
brain ? 

These questions are constantly being raised in the 
minds of thoughtful persons, and the only answer that 



HuDUDi Dcvclopuhiit and Progress. 1 1 

science can give is, that we know nothing of mind when 
separated from its physical basis, the brain, but we do 
know, these physical phenomena take place in the 
brain in connection with all mental operation, and no 
nervous force of any kind is evolved without these 
phenomena taking place. Why these things are so 
arranged it is not the province of science to inquire ; 
and such an inquiry is probing into the doings of the 
Divine Mind that is certainly not saying much for man's 
humility. 

The great concern of man should be, not why Provi- 
dence has arranged the order of nature as we find it, 
but what is the order of nature and how may man's 
life be brought into harmony with it. This is the most 
momentous inquiry that can engage the attention of 
man, and should enlist all his capabilities and powers. 
Man's health and happiness, and all enduring good, rests 
upon his being in harmony with the order of nature as 
manifested in his own physical body, and its environment, 
and to secure this knowledge, and live in accordance 
with its teachings, should be the strongest desire of his 
life. 

Accepting, then, the teachings of science, that there can 
be no growth and development of man's mental and moral 
faculties, without there is corresponding growth and de- 
velopment of the portions of the brain in which these 
faculties reside, the inquiry may be raised — what are the 
necessary conditions that will secure this brain develop- 
ment? and are these conditions within the control of 
man ? Upon the solution of this question seems to rest 
the extent of man's accountability for his conduct and 
actions; for certainly no sane man can doubt that if the 
conditions that will secure the growth and development 



12 Hinnan Development and Pro ogress. 

of his mental and moral powers are placed within his 
reach and under his own control, if he fails to recognize 
these conditions, and does not make proper use of them, 
he must be held responsible for his neglect and all the 
evil that results from it. All statutory law is based 
upon this principle. The means of knowing the law 
of the land is placed within the reach of all, and no 
man can escape the penalties of any special law by 
pleading ignorance of its existence. And yet we know 
that there are numerous instances where the knowledge 
of the statutory laws, and the necessary conditions of 
mental and moral developement, are Hterally sealed 
books to which these persons have had no access, and 
yet they are held responsible for their obedience, (if of 
sound mind,) and it is necessary to recognize this fact, 
and trace the lack of knowledge back to its source. In 
order to accomplish this, we must look at the powers 
of man in all periods of his existence. In infancy we 
find him the most helpless of all living beings, and en- 
tirely dependent upon parental care and guidance. And 
how frequently it is during this period, that influences 
are brought to bear upon the poor helpless infant that 
tells for weal or woe upon its whole future life. , 

Perhaps there is no period of existence so fraught 
with momentous consequences to the individual, as this 
period of infancy, and up to seven years of age, when 
the State steps in and claims the control of the educa- 
tion and training of the youth up to the period of ma- 
jority ; after which the individual takes his place in soci- 
ety as a free moral agent, subject to the duties and re- 
sponsibilities that attaches to citizenship. 

And now it is not difficult to see that the position 
each individual must take in the world is greatly depend- 



riuDian Dcvclopuieut and Proo-jcss. 13 

ent upon the early education and training he receives 
from parents, the school, and society at large. If this 
training has not been in obedience to the true physiolog- 
ical laws of life, it cannot be expected the result will be 
satisfactory. Certain definite results will always follow 
their appropriate causes, and pure symmetrical lives can 
only result from perfect obedience to the true physiolog- 
ical laws of life. And yet parents and teachers give no 
attention whatever to these physiological laws, and 'are 
only solicitous to satisfy the demands of society in the 
management of the children placed under their control. 
Ask the parents you meet everywhere in society, if they 
are careful to observe all the physiological laws of life 
in the rearing of their children, and nine out of ten will 
tell you they know nothing about these laws. They 
will tell you, however, that in the management of their 
children they are careful to fill the requirements of the 
law of the land, and especially careful to meet the de- 
mands of society. 

And thus by blind adhesion to the behests of society, 
and complete disregard of the actual needs of life, 
christian parents are every year sacrificing the health 
and comfort, and too often the lives of their children ; 
and as they lay away the fallen ones in the silent 
church-yard, they reverently claim it as a dispensation 
of Providence. 

If we look for the causes of this ignorance of human 
development, it may be found in the fact that the op 
portunities for acquiring the necessary information has 
not been placed within the reach of the great mass of 
the people. The little positive knowledge that has 
been gleaned by the patient study of a few scientists, 
is clothed in such technical language that none but 



14 rhduan Dcvclopvicnt and Progress. 

scholars can comprehend its meaning, and but Httle 
effort is made by these scholars and professional teachers 
to place this most necessary knowledge in such form 
that the unlettered can comprehend and be benefited 
by it. 

''Man goes out in the direction of least resistance." 
and all impediments should be taken away from that 
knowledge that is of most worth, and its acquisition 
should be placed within the reach of all, and made as 
pleasant and attractive as possible. The great impera- 
tive need of the age, is the placing the knowledge ot cor- 
rect living in such shape as to be accessible to all the 
people. Almost the entire education of the country 
fails to impart any such knowledge, and the classes 
farthest advanced in the learning of the schools, are as 
destitute of all ideas of true living as are those who are 
deprived of all school education. In fact, the whole 
training of the youth of the land, from the cradle up to 
full maturity, has no reference whatever to the true 
physiological laws of life, and as a consequence, the 
country is full of physical disease and moral pollution. 
Has not man lived long enough in the world to learn 
that the forces and influences that gain the ascendenc}' 
in the early life of the individual, will shape the course 
of the entire life, unless something more powerful is 
brought to bear upon it in later years ; and then it must 
take unceasing effort to overcome the first wrong in- 
fluences? "Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined," 
is a truth believed by almost every one, and }'et so few 
are disposed to learn the laws that will secure the true 
and upright growth of the twig. If we will but cast our 
eyes over the world of mankind, we will see everywhere, 
individuals struggling against the evil influences that 



Ilmiiaii ncvclopiiunt and rrogrcss. 15 

were allowed to i^aiii the ascendency in early life ; and 
so often the strugi^le proves ineffectnal, and the vie 
tim of imperfect early training either dies prematurely, 
or continues to live a blighted and ruined life. All over 
this beautiful land, these victims of imperfect early 
training may be found, in the hovels of the poor and the 
the mansions of the rich, and no condition of life is 
proof against the evil effects of violated physiological 
laws. And let me say to those parents who are so 
anxious to secure for their children the highest niche 
in the social fabric, that the tim.e is rapidly coming 
when this can only be accomplished by the observance 
of those physiological laws that will lecd to the highest 
development of the whole nature of man, physical, men- 
tal, and moral. 

I am aware that the tendency of the civilization of the 
present age is directed almost entirely to the securing 
of wealth and show, and outward decoration ; and this 
is retarding that true culture and refinement that comes 
from the full development of all man's powers. But 
this spurious civilization is so unsatisfactory, and so dis- 
astrous to all the higher and nobler impulses in man, 
that it must give way to a purer and better mode of liv- 
ing. Let this better way be pointed out, and made so 
plain the wayfaring man need not err therein — let man 
once see that the road that leads to happiness and his 
greatest good, is always to be found in the absolute 
obedience to the laws of human development, and 
that all the evil he meets with, comes from violations of 
these laws, and certainly there will be an increased de- 
sire to know the truth and walk in its light. 

The means for spreading a knowledge of the true 
physiological laws that lead to a higher development of 



l6 Ihiinan Ihvclopiiu'iU and Progicss. 

man, comes through various sources and must be made 
to reach all the people. The first lesson is to be im- 
pressed upon parents in relation to the importance of 
an intelligent observance of these laws during the baby- 
hood of their children. It is here that so often is laid 
the foundation of some physical and moral defect, that 
goes with the mdividual through life, and that com- 
pletely cripples his usefulness to society, and ability to 
enjoy happiness. The idea is altogether too prevalent 
with parents, that their whole duty to their children 
during this period of babyhood, is to furnish, the little 
one sufficient sustenance to secure its physical growth, 
and to clothe it in obedience to the behests of society. 
The great fact that the young immortal has a mo- 
ral principle within, to be trained and nurtured, and 
that the whole future of the child will be influenced for 
good or evil, by the character of the training it now 
receives, is not entertained by the vast majority of 
parents ; and hence, the mental and moral nature of the 
child is left entirely uncared for during this important 
period of existence. 

To open the minds of parents, and especially of 
mothers, to the importance of the proper training of 
their children during the few first years of their lives, 
the Kindergarten should be introduced as a regular 
branch of the public schools of the country. 

No greater benefactor of the race ever lived than the 
immortal Froebel, whose genial mind opened up the 
way for this most beneficent means of true child culture. 
His method is based upon what is known to be the 
true physiological laws of development, in the learning 
of which, he had devoted the best years of his life. His 
keen discernment enabled him to see, ''that processes of 



Human Pcvclopjucnf and Proi:;rcss. 17 

nature arc always according to fixed laws ; that plant or 
animal development is according to the species of each, 
and that individual culture to be successful, must be 
guided by the knowledge of the manifestations common 
to all. And -if man has a three-fold nature, it is so from 
birth, and all these must be cultivated and developed 
equally, according to their needs from the first dawnings 
of infancy. And during this period, education must be- 
gin with the surroundings — with the first sights and 
sounds, and it is in the power of parents to make these 
beautiful, harmonious and nourishing to the inner being 
of the infant, or just the reverse. As the bodily organs 
strengthen, they must be made to serve as tools for the 
mind, even in early childhood, and education of the en- 
tire being should be well begun before the mind is in- 
troduced into the realm of abstract thought," 

Such were the principles which Froebel carried out 
in a practical system of child culture, which he denom- 
inated a Kindergarten. He took children between the 
ages of three and eight years, and using no books, his 
system aimed to impart actual knowledge of things by 
handling and seeing, and not through the signs that 
represent words. This is unquestionably the true princi- 
ple of child culture, and parents must learn that sight 
and sound, and touch, are the channels through which 
the child mind is first opened and expanded, and beau- 
tiful sights, and harmonious sc^nds, with plenty of new 
objects to handle and explore, will do more to develop 
and enlarge the mental and moral powers of the child, 
than any amount of cramming its memory with written 
descriptions of the grandest scenes in nature, or the 
purest moral maxims. In the first case, it is nature's 
method of unfolding the intellect of the child, and can- 



1 8 [J II man Dcvclopincnt and Progycss. 

not fail of producini^ excellent results, while the latter 
method is all artificial and can never produce a pure 
symmetrical life. 

If ever man is to be brought up to the full capabili- 
ties of his nature, it can only be accomplished through 
a constant observance of the human development, and 
these laws must be observed from infancy, and through 
the whole period of life. And certainly if the mental 
and moral faculties of man are to be the controlling ele- 
ments in his life, it will not do to put off the cultivation 
and development of these faculties, until the appetites 
and passions have gained the complete control over the 
life of the individual. Such a course is in direct con- 
flict with nature's laws, and does not accord with the 
plainest dictates of common sense. Nor will it do for 
the State, when it assumes the control of the education 
and training of the youth, to ignore nature's method of 
bringing about human development. The cultivation 
of the whole nature, physical, mental and moral, must 
be harmoniously blended during this important forma- 
tive period of existence. And as the grov/th and de- 
velopment of the mental and moral powers is depend- 
ent, in a measure, upon the growth and development 
of their physical basis, the brain, and as the brain be- 
longs to the physical side of man's nature, it is plain to 
be seen it will not do to neglect the laws of physical 
development, if we expect to succeed in raising man 
to the highest state he is capable of reaching. 

But a look into the workings of the public schools of 
the country, and the qualifications of those who have 
control of them, must be convincing evidence of an en- 
tire disregard of the true physiological laws of develop- 
ment in almost every direction. In the first place, in 



Hunian Dcvclopiuoit and Progress. 19 

the construction of the school buildings, the tendency 
of the age is manifested in their being built with spe- 
cial reference to appearances, rather than adaptation to 
the needs of the little beings who are to be trained and 
nurtured in them. And in the management of the 
schools the same disregard of the true principles of hu- 
man development is carried out. All the mental pow- 
er of the children is applied to word learning, neglect- 
ing the importance of imparting knowledge of things. 
And if we follow up the course of instruction adopted 
in tlie high schools and colleges, the same principle is 
carried out, and instead of unfolding and bringing out 
all the powers of the whole being, in order to prepare 
the individual to fill his place in the world's great work- 
shop, the instruction he has acquired only fits him to 
impart the same kind of instruction to those who are 
to follow him in the schools. All the preparation for 
life's work is left untouched, and must be acquired, if at 
all, after the education of the school has been ''finished." 
Never until Fro^bel's system is established in the* 
public schools of the country, and our educational sys- 
tem is carried out in strict harmony with the laws of 
human development, will our national education be placed 
upon a sound and enduring basis. Scholastic, as well as 
parental training, must be adapted to the needs of the 
whole nature of man, and must be directed to the prep- 
aration of man for his true sphere in life. To this end, 
our schools should have gardens attached to them, 
where the choicest specimens of trees, shrubs, flowers, 
fruits and vegetables may be cultivated by the properly 
directed labor of the pupils, and thus develop the 
physical along with the mental being ; and at the same 
time, some preparation for the duties of after life may 



20 Human Develop in cut and Progress. 

be obtained, together with the importance and dignity 
that attaches to physical labor. 

As our educational system is now conducted, the 
idea is gradually instilled into the youth of the land, 
that manual labor is intended only for the ignorant and 
unlettered boor, and that educated gentlemen and 
ladies have special claims upon the lucrative offices and 
professions, that are disconnected with physical labor. 
The consequence is, our public schools are filling the 
country with hungry aspirants for public favor, and all 
the professions are crowded to repletion, while honest 
labor is weighed down to the earth to support and main- 
tain these crowds of learned gentlemen and ladies. 

As physical, mental and moral growth can only be 
secured by the use and exercise of the physical body, and 
the mental and moral faculties, it is evident that any sys- 
tem of education that does not take in physical and moral, 
as well as mental training, must be defective, and fail to 
meet the requirements of a natural system. 

The laws of development plainly point to physical labor 
as a necessary condition in all systems of child culture. 

And certainly the self-interest of parents will prompt 
them to adopt that system of education that promises 
the best results to their children, with the least trouble 
and expense to themselves, whenever they can be made 
to see what that system is. And evidently there is 
nothing so expensive and troublesome as an unnatural 
system of education and training, that must lead to 
physical disease as well as moral depravity. Already 
the country is full of nervous and mental disease, as the 
result of violated physiological laws ; and with all our 
boasted progress in civilization, these diseases are in- 
creasing, rather than diminishing. There are various 



HuDian DcvclopJiicvJ and Progress. 21 

phases of nervous disease prevaient in this country to- 
day, that was ahnost unknown a century ago ; and 
while these diseases are most disastrous in their effects 
upon the present generation, they will more seriously 
effect posterity, unless something is done to arrest their 
progress. The monstrous structures erected by the 
different states, for the care and treatment of the insane, 
the idiotic, the blind and the deaf, is a fearful commen- 
tary upon our progress in civilization. That these 
diseased conditions are the result of violated physiolog- 
ical laws, no thoughtful person now questions ; and 
yet every progressive step in our civilization but in- 
creases their ratio, instead of stamping them out. 

Is it not time the people of this nation was giving 
some thought and attention to the true physiological 
laws of human development, that we may build up and 
perpetuate a true and genuine civilization ? True and 
genuine progress can be secured in no other way than 
by strict obedience to these laws, and the sooner the 
people recognize this fact, the better it will be for the 
future of the nation. It is true the opportunities for 
the acquisition of this knowledge has not been placed 
within the reach of the great mass of the people, and 
hence their attention has been directed into other chan- 
nels ; and accepting these diseased conditions as the 
inevitable lot of poor frail humanity, they have looked 
to the Medical profession for the means of relief and 
cure — never suspecting that the power of preventing 
their occurrence was placed in their own hands. 

In these pages an attempt has been made to explain 
the physiological laws of human development in such 
language as can be comprehended by the great mass of 
the people. The study and thought of a Hfe-time has 



22 Iliunau Development and Progress. 

been given to the subject, and as light has dawned upon 
the pathway of the author, the importance of a knowl- 
edge of these laws to those just coming upon the stage 
of action has induced him to write this book, hoping 
that from a study of its pages the youth may learn to 
live true and consistent lives, and thus escape the pen- 
alties of violated physiological laws which their fore- 
fathers endured for want of the necessary knowledge. 

The laws that God has ordained to secure human de- 
velopment will just as certainly be vindicated in man 
as will those that relate to the movements of the heaven- 
ly bodies be carried out in the universe. And let no 
one adopt the fallacy of believing that by remaining 
ignorant of these laws there can be an escape from their 
effects. The laws of development are constantly oper- 
ating upon every individual in all conditions and all 
periods of life ; and definite unconditional effects will 
inevitably follow their proper causes. If we * ' sow to the 
wind, we must reap the whirlwind." If we cultivate 
and develop the lower side of our natures, and fail 
to develop the intellectual and moral side, the in- 
centives to action will most assuredly emanate from 
that side of our natures that is most highly developed. 

It is true there are cases where hereditary tendencies are 
strong enough to over-ride all other influences, and 
mould and shape the life of the individual in spite of all 
ante-natal efforts to eradicate them. We see instances 
of this in cases of scrofulous parents, where the tenden- 
cy to scrofula is so strong in the off-spring, that the 
most correct living fails to prevent the disease from 
manifesting itself in some form, and it may take several 
generations to get rid of the predisposition. And the 
same principle holds good in relation to moral disease ; 



I [uuia)i DLVclopuioit auii Progress. 23 

for the disposition to step aside from the path of moral 
rectitude is just as much a disease as is the tendency to 
take on abnormal physical action, and it may be just as 
certainly inherited in the one case as the other. Mow 
frequently we see a tendency to some special form of 
crime or immoral principle descending from parent to 
child through many generations. The drunken father 
bequeaths to his child an insatiable appetite for spiritu- 
ous liquors. The disposition to accumulate wealth, if 
very strong in both parents, will frequently be so power- 
fully manifested in the child, as to blot out all feelings 
of honesty and sense of justice. 

And thus the principles of good or evil, that we have 
cultivated and developed in ourselves, we are handing 
down to our descendants, to stamp their impress for 
good or evil upon their lives. "The fathers have eaten 
sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge," 
is as much a trueism to-day, as in the earlier period of 
mankind. But careful, patient training, in obedience to 
the true physiological laws, will in the end, overcome all 
the evil tendencies of heredity. And the stronger the 
evil tendencies that we are handing down to our descen- 
dants, the more imperative is the duty to strive to over- 
come them by a judicious system of culture and training. 

Let not parents claim that because the State assumes 
control of the education and training of the youth, from 
seven years up to majority, that therefore, they are re- 
lieved from all responsibility for the influences inculcated 
during this important period of life. God and nature 
proclaim that the influences of the parents, and especi- 
ally the mother, outweighs all other influences during 
this formative period of existence ; and upon parents 
must rest the great burden of responsibility. Certainly 



24 Human Development and Progress. 

the parents that would permit their infant children to 
starve for want of proper foods, would be held responsible, 
if it was possible for them to furnish a suppl}' ; and so the 
supply of proper food for the growth of the intellectual 
and moral faculties of their children, is just as incumbent 
upon parents, if in their power to bestow. 

But wherever the responsibility of a failure of proper 
physical, intellectual and moral development may rest, 
one fact is certain, the disastrous effects of the failure 
will inevitably be felt by those who are the subjects of 
it. There is no escaping this fact and its tremendous 
consequences. 

It is true, some of those who are farthest advanced 
in intellectual culture, sometimes become bad citizens, 
and even leading criminals, and this fact is frequently 
used as an argument against the higher education. But 
this comes from an unnatural and unbalanced education. 
Unless the moral powers are developed along with the 
intellectual, and the blood be kept pure and uncontami- 
nated, the enlightened mental powers may run into the 
most extravagant excesses. Pure streams cannot flow from 
impure fountains ; and as the blood is the fountain from 
which all the supplies of the system" are drawn, unless it 
is kept pure, it is not likely the life will be pure. We 
see this exemplified in the case of the drunkard. The 
alcohoHc liquor entering the circulation and being carried 
with the blood to the seat of the mind and moral nature, 
the brain, it deranges all these faculties; and the man, 
who in his sober moments has all the qualities of a good 
citizen, now becomes a pestilent outlaw and criminal. 
Nor are alcoholic liquors the only substances taken into 
the system that deranges the blood. Any substance 
used as food, or as a beverage, that does not help to 



Human DcvcIop}}icnt and Progress. 25 

build up any of the tissues of the body, or supply it with 
heat, must produce impurity of the blood, and thus 
create an abnormal condition of the system that will evi- 
dently give abnormal brain functions. And yet parents 
are daily giving improper substances to their children 
as food that must make the blood impure, and then they 
wonder at the evil tendencies manifested by their chil- 
dren. Why is it that parents do not care to investigate 
the nature and effects of what they provide for their 
children for food ? Certainly there are but few parents 
but must be conscious of the fact, that different articles 
and qualities of foods produce different effects upon their 
children's health and life ? Every one knows it is nec- 
essary to eat good nutritious foods, in order to sustain 
all the vital processes of life ; but very few persons in- 
deed, understand what it takes to constitute good nu- 
tritious foods, and how the}- produce their effect upon 
the system. And yet without this knowledge, no 
parent can be qualified to use proper discrimination in 
the selection of suitable foods for their children. 

And there is the same lamentable ignorance in re- 
lation to the purity of the air of apartments where 
children sleep and live, the value of sunlight to such 
apartments, and indeed of all hygienic influences of 
every kind. And even the medical profession have 
only very recently manifested any care or thought in 
the direction of true living — their whole time having 
been devoted to the treatment of the diseased conditions 
the bad living of the people had engendered. Very 
few medical men to-day provide any better quality of 
food for their own families than can be found in the 
majority of families in the country, nor do they mani- 
fest any more care in instituting proper hygienic con- 

5 



26 Hmnan Devclopnient and Progress. 

ditions in and about their dwellings. As physicians 
are supposed to be the guardians of the physical health 
and comfort of the people, and their instructor in rela- 
tion to the hygienic management of families and com- 
munities, if they give no attention to these matters, it 
is not likely the people will be attracted to them unless 
their importance can be plainly shown to them. But 
certainly no subject is so intimately connected with the 
health and happiness of all the people as the knowledge 
of the physiological laws that bring about the full de- 
velopment of the physical, mental and moral powers of 
man. And it is not only necessary that the people 
know these laws, but that they bring their whole lives 
in harmony with them. There are but few persons in- 
deed that live as w^ell as they know ; for the physiolog- 
ical laws once violated, the tendency will be towards 
repeated violations. Never until imperfect physical, 
mental and moral development is recognized as evidence 
of the commission of sin, will mankind be enabled to 
see the importance of living up to the requirements of 
the physiological laws. Sin is the transgression of the 
law, and the violations of the laws that bring about the 
true development of man is the worst form of sin ; for 
its effects are not only felt by the transgressors them- 
selves, but their posterity must suffer also. 

And now, dear reader, in order that you may know 
the extent and import of the physiological laws that 
bring about the full development of man, I ask you to 
follow me in their exposition in the succeeding chapters 
of this book. I propose to take the infant, when first 
ushered into the world, and, tracing its progress up to 
maturity and old age, show the necessary physiological 
conditions during all periods of its life, that will give to 



Huniiifi Dcvclopvicnt aiid Progress. 27 

it the fullest development of all its powers it is capable 
of reaching. To explain the workings of these physio- 
logical laws in language that can be comprehended by 
the great body of the people, all unused, as they are, to 
scientific investigations, I know is a difficult undertaking. 
But every step on the part of the people to learn these 
laws, not only increases their stock of useful informa- 
tion ; but the effort to acquire the knowledge will most 
wonderfully expand and develop the mental and moral 
powers. Then let me ask you, gentle reader, not to lay 
aside this book until you have mastered its principles 
and put them into practice in your daily life. 



CHAPTER 11. 



Of the Early Management of Children — Respiration and the Organs 
Concerned in it — Changes that take place in the Air and the 
Blood during Respiration — The Importance of the Proper Ven- 
tilation of Apartments — An Improved Plan of Warming and 
Ventilating Houses. 

IN the lowest order of savage tribes, the new-born 
infant is not an object of much parental solicitude, 
and what Httle is manifested, is on the side of the 
mother. In fact, the conduct of savage tribes toward 
their offspring, differ but little from the higher order of 
the brute creation. As man rises in the scale of civili- 
zation, the father begins to feel an interest in his off- 
spring, while the affection of the mother is greatly 
increased ; but only in the highest phase of civilized 
society does the new-born infant become an object of 
the tenderest care and solicitude to both father and 
mother. And yet, with all the love and affection man- 
ifested toward the poor helpless being placed in their 
charge, the conduct of the most enlightened parents 
toward their infant children, is often most destructive to 
their welfare, and very frequently brings on disease and 
suffering, and premature death. 

The great mortality among young infants in this 
country is certainl)' not creditable to our progress in 



Human Devclopiiieiit ami Progress. 29 

civilization. Cholera Infantum, Diphtheria, Scarlet 
Fever, and kindred diseases, are yearly making sad 
havoc with the little ones ; and while better hygienic 
conditions in later years have somewhat lessened the 
ratio of mortality in favored localities, still there is 
great need of more extended information among the 
masses of the people, of the true physiological laws 
of development, and their application to the rearing 
of children. 

What, then, are the necessary conditions that will 
secure the safe and normal development of children, 
and save them from so great an amount of pain and 
suffering ? To answer this question, it will be necessary 
to observe what is taking place in a healthy, well devel- 
oped infant at birth, and during the first years of its 
life. The first want of the new-born babe is for air, and 
this want is ever present throughout its entire existence. 
But it is not only necessary that it have air, (for it 
would be difficult to exclude it entirely from the atmos- 
phere), but the importance hinges upon the purity of 
the air it is permitted to breathe. In the great anxiety 
of parents and nurses to prevent the little one from 
taking cold, or being injured by draughts of air, espe- 
cially in cold weather, the ingress of fresh air is care- 
fully guarded against, day and night ; and if the fresh 
air cannot get in, the foul air of the room cannot es- 
cape. The consequence is, the air in the room where 
the infant is kept confined, becomes so impure as to 
endanger the health of adults even, but is much more 
injurious to the babe. To show this in its true light, it 
will be necessary to give some description of the organs 
concerned in breathing, and the changes effected in the 
air breathed, and also, in the blood by respiration. In 



30 Hinnaii Development and Progress. 

order to do this, the use of some technical terms will be 
unavoidable, but these will be sufficiently explained to 
be comprehended by the most unlettered. 

The respiratory organs then are the nose, and inci- 
dentally the mouth, the pharynx, the larynx, the 
trachea, bronchial tubes and lungs, and also the walls 
of the chest, including the partition wall that separates 
the chest from the abdomen, called the diaphragm. 
The mouth is really not connected with breathing, ex- 
cept when the nasal passages are closed by disease or 
accident, and no one should breathe through the mouth 
when the nasal passages are free from closure. The 
nostrils are lengthened out in order that the air breathed 
may be warmed in cold weather, to make it innocuous 
to the more delicate passages below. The next divis- 
ion of the respiratory tract is the pharynx, into which 
the two nasal passages open, and which has five other 
openings extending it, viz. : one to each ear, one into 
the mouth, one into the larynx, and one into the a^soph- 
agus or gullet, through which the food passes to the 
stomach. 

Over the entrance to the larynx, or windpipe, a carti- 
lage or valve is placed, that effectually closes it during 
the act of swallowing foods or drinks, but leaves it open 
during respiration. This valve is reall}/ stationary, but 
during all efforts at swallowing, the larynx is raised up 
against the valve closing the entrance to the larynx com- 
pletely, so it is evident we cannot swallow and breathe 
at the same time, and it is only through imperfect action 
of the larynx that any solid substance can find its way 
into the windpipe. The importance of the larynx then, 
as a part of the breathing apparatus is, to freely admit 
the ingress and egress of air into and out of the lungs, 



* Hiijfiaii DcTclopnuiit mid Progress. 31 

but to prevent the entrance of solid and liquid sub- 
stances. 

The trachea commences from the lower portions of 
the larynx and extends down into the chest, where it 
divides into two branches called bronchial tubes, and 
these divide and sub-divide and empty the air into the 
little air cells that are thickly studded through the lungs. 
The use of the lungs is to bring the air and blood so 
closely together that they can act upon each other. 
They are consequently situated one on each side of the 
heart and at the lower extremity of the air passages, and 
are made up of divisions of the bronchial tubes and air 
cells, of little capillary blood tubes, arteries and veins, 
and of two kinds of sinewy tissue, one of which is elastic, 
and which thus binds and holds the entire structure to- 
gether. They also have a serous covering called the 
pleura which completely surrounds them and which is 
folded back on itself, forming two layers, which secretes 
a thin fluid between them that permits the freest pos- 
sible movements of the lungs without the least interfer- 
ence. The entire windpipe has a delicate membrane 
lining it, called the mucus membrane, and which extends 
around the little air cells constituting their walls, and 
which is kept all the time moist by the secretion of a 
thin mucus. This membrane is very delicate, and if the 
air that enters the windpipe of young children especial- 
ly, be too cold, or if it contains impurities of certain 
kinds, the membrane becomes inflamed and thickened, 
which then interferes with the free passage of air to the 
lungs. If this takes place in the upper portions of the wind- 
pipe, the child is said to have croup; if the membrane now 
secretes a large amount of mucus it is called catarrhal 
croup ; but if the secretion be very tenacious, and forms 



32 Human Development and Progress. •^ 

into a false membrane, lining the air tubes, it is mem- 
branous croup, and very often proves fatal. This makes 
it essentially necessary for parents to keep the air of the 
nursery apartments moderately warm and pure at all 
times ; but it must not be too greatly heated at one time, 
and then allowed to get too cold, as such sudden changes 
are more injurious than an evenly cold temperature. 

On the outside of the air cells of the lungs is a com- 
plete network of little capillary blood tubes, and it is 
through the delicate membrane that makes up the cell 
walls and the walls of these tubes, that such wonderful 
changes are brought about between the air jn the cells 
and the blood in the little capillaries. The sides of the 
air cells are saculated like a little pouch, for the purpose 
of presenting as great an extent of surface as possible ; 
and millions of these air cells cluster about the extrem- 
ities of the smallest bronchial tubes, presenting an al- 
most incomputable extent of surface to favor the action 
of the air and the blood upon each other. The little 
capillaries form a most beautiful network of extremely 
small blood tubes around and in the walls of these air 
cells, the meshes of Vv^hich are closer even than the di- 
ameter of the little tubes ; and the gaseous constituents of 
the air cells and the contents of these little tubes pass 
through the separating membrane as freely as if it was 
not there. 

The elastic sinewy tissue of the lungs is woven in be- 
tween the air cells and bronchial tubes, and by its elas- 
ticity the explusion of the air from the lungs is brought 
about. 

The lungs thus constructed, require to be placed 
in an air-tight box, the dimensions of which can be en- 
larged and diminished in order that it may expand and 



[luuiaii Development and Progress. 33 

contract as the air is taken in or forced out in the act 
of breathing. The peculiar arrangement of the muscles 
on the ribs, (which make up the walls of this box), se- 
cures this object very beautifull)-, if allowed to act free- 
ly. As there is no vacant space between the lungs and 
the walls of the box that enclose them, breathing can- 
not take place perfectly unless the chest walls are al- 
lowed this free movement that the muscles will bring 
about if their action is not interfered with. But if the 
chest walls are held down by tight clothing, the lungs 
cannot expand in circumference and can only push down 
the partition wall between the lungs and abdomen. 
This partition, called the diaphragm, is attached around 
the lower border of the ribs, forming a sack with the 
cavity below, and w^hen the air is inhaled this partition 
is forced, by the expanding lungs, downwards into the 
abdominal cavity, and of course pressing upon, and par- 
tially displacing the organs below. But this even does 
not give room for full respiration, and does not admit 
sufficient air to bring about the necessary changes to 
free the blood of the impurities it has acquired in its 
transit through the capillaries of the organism, where all 
changes in the blood are brought about. And this is 
not theonly mischief that is done by this infringem.ent of 
the physiological law of respiration, for the muscles 
that were intended, to work the chest walls, not being 
allowed to act, and the clothing pressing upon them, inter- 
fering with the free capillary circulation through them, 
they soon become weakened and permanently injured, 
and unable to work the chest walls perfectly when the 
pressure is removed. 

Now, having described the organs concerned in respi- 
ration, it will be proper to note the changes effected 
6 



34 Ihtvian Dcvclopjiumt and Progress. 

in the air taken into the lungs, and the blood brought 
in contact with it while passing through the net-work of 
little capillary vessels. As these changes are mostly 
chemical, it will be necessary for the reader to under- 
stand something of the chemical agents concerned in 
these changes. At the head of the list stands oxygen, 
an invisible gas that permeates everywhere, and is a 
constituent of most organic substances. This subtle 
agent pla}'s an important part in the changes continually 
taking place in the human economy, and it is found in 
every tissue of the body, in combination with other 
substances. It is one of the chemical elements of the 
water we drink, of the air we breathe, and of all kinds 
of food we eat, and, taken altogether, it constitutes a 
little over two-thirds of the entire weight of the body. 
But, although this agent plays so important a part in 
all the operations going on in the body, it is never 
found uncombined, except in the blood which takes it 
from the air breathed into the lungs. The most im- 
portant of all the combinations of oxygen, is that with 
hydrogen, forming water, which constitutes about two- 
thirds of the entire weight of the body, and, while all 
other combinations of oxygen in the body undergo 
changes before leaving it, the water we take into the 
system never undergoes any change whatever. It is 
the great solvent of all the substances that enter the 
body, and no substance can find its way into the circu- 
lation without first being dissolved in the water. But, 
although oxygen is found in all the tissues of the body, 
it is only in its free or nascient state as it exists in the 
blood, and which is taken from the air breathed into 
the lungs, that it is ready for new combinations. 



Hmuaii Dcvclopvioit and Progress. 35 

Another important chemical agent that figures in res- 
piration, is carbonic acid, which is made up of carbon 
and oxygen, and exists as a gas also, but it is heavier 
than oxygen or common air. It is this substance that 
sometimes gets into wells, and is known to most per- 
sons as the •* damps." If as much as twenty per cent, 
of this carbonic acid gets mingled with the air, and is 
breathed into the lungs, it will destroy life very quickly, 
and a somewhat larger per cent, will even extinguish a 
lighted taper, if placed in it. But the most important 
agent concerned in respiration, is of course, the atmos- 
phere, or air. This in its pure state is made up of 
twenty-one per cent, of oxygen, and seventy-nine per 
cent, of nitrogen, but the air is never found in nature, 
perfectly pure, but always contains a very small amount 
of sulphur, carbonic acid, or other impurities. 

It therefore becomes an iroportant matter for the 
people to know and understand how to preserve the 
air of the apartments where most of their time is 
spent, from acquiring foreign matters that will render 
it detrimental to health, and dangerous to life. 

That the air of confined rooms in which there are a 
number of persons living and breathing, will soon be- 
come poisonous, may be seen at once, by observing 
the changes that take place in the air which is 
breathed into the lungs, and then exhaled. As the 
blood in the little capillaries of the lungs has taken a 
portion of the oxygen of the exhaled air, and carries it 
into the system, of course, the air exhaled, or given 
out, has lost so much of this life-giving element ; but it 
has also received from the blood a portion of carbonic 
acid, that was formed by the breaking down of the 
tissues, and along with this a little animal matter in a 



36 Htiman Drtrlopmcnt mid Progress. 

gaseous form, and some watery vapor. Thus it is evi- 
dent that at every respiration the air of the apartment 
loses a portion of its great invigorator, oxygen, and 
gets in its stead, the poisonous substances, carbonic 
acid, and decayed animal matter. The quantity of 
carbonic acid exhaled is about four per cent, of the ex- 
pired air, and according to reliable authority, an adult 
man gives off a little over one and a half cubic inches 
with each normal respiration, which amounts to eleven 
hundred and fifty cubic feet per day. This amount 
varies from time to time, according to many different 
circumstances, as age, constitutional development, ex- 
ercise, etc., but the amount stated approximates the 
truth. Now as twenty per cent, of carbonic acid in the 
air of a room is sufficient to destroy life, and a single 
person is exhaling eleven hundred and fifty cubic inches 
of it every hour, it is very evident if there are several 
persons in a room, and there is no provision made 
for the escape of the carbonic acid, that the atmos- 
phere of the room soon becomes dangerous to both 
young and old. 

Then the question of the ventilation of apartments, 
where infants are kept confined, not only appeals to 
the comfort and continued existence of their lives, 
but of the entire household. 

And yet, if we will examine into the condition of the 
dwellings of nine-tenths of the people of this country, 
the idea of ventilation is hardly recognized at all. And 
yet we wonder what can be the cause of so much con- 
sumption among us, and, to ease our consciences, we 
are all the time trying to trace the cause back to our 
ancestors and claim it as an inheritance, while the facts 
are, that with their log cabins and large open fire-places, 



Hum an Development and Progress. 37 

they were much more exempt from the disease than are 
their descendants. But instead of trying to trace the 
cause of this terrible malady back to our ancestors, it 
would be more profitable if we would endeavor to 
remove the causes that we find now existing ; the chief 
of which is small tight rooms, heated in winter with 
large close stoves, which are consuming the oxygen of 
the rooms, and giving out carbonic acid as well as the 
occupants of the rooms, and unless there is ample pro- 
vision made for ventilation in such rooms, the air soon 
becomes unfit to breathe by either children or adults. 

The only possible way to keep the air of occupied 
apartments in a condition pure enough for healthy res- 
piration, is to have currents of air constantly passing 
through them, and if the cold air from outside the 
house be admitted, this makes the rooms too cold for 
the comfort of the occupants. Therefore, the proper 
heating and ventilation of houses, is yet a vexed ques- 
tion, and must be left to some aspiring genius of the 
incoming century. In the meantime an improvement 
on the present modes of warming and ventilating 
houses may be secured by adopting a plan something 
like this: 

In the arrangement of a house there must be a good 
dry basement. Somewhere near the center of this, 
and under the hall and stair-way, (if there be one) 
divide off a room, some six feet square, and make it as 
cleanly and pure as possible. Now let an ornamental 
grid, or register, be placed in the i^oor of the hall over 
this heating room in the basement. In the center of 
this room place a good, large, slow-combustion, self- 
feeding stove. Admit plenty of fresh air into this 
room by opening through the outer walls of the house, 



38 Hiiniaii Development and Progress. 

and conducting it as most convenient to open directly 
upon the stove. When fire is started in the stove 
and the room shut up, the cold fresh air, coming into 
the room through the opening, will be immediately 
warmed, when it will pass through the grid to the rooms 
above. Then, by leaving the windows slightly raised 
for the air to pass out, or, what would be better, by 
placing ventilators in the walls of the rooms, the whole 
house may be kept sweet and pure, and comfortable, 
as the gentle current thus established will change the 
entire air of the room every hour or two ; and the 
current will be so slow that no sensation of a "draught" 
will be experienced anywhere in the house. The 
temperature will be soft and equable over all the room, 
and no stifling hot air deprived of its oxygen in any 
part of the house. If thought necessary, an open fire- 
place, or grate, may be placed in the sitting-room, for 
warming the feet of persons coming in from the cold, 
but it need be used only in the coldest weather. 

In a house so constructed and managed, there will be 
no such thing as ** catching cold, " and infants and chil- 
dren may be brought up without danger of croup or 
catarrhal affections of any kind. 

For the purpose of warming and ventilating a dwel- 
ling house, nothing yet tested exceeds a new patent 
arrangement called, * 'Silver's Waste Heat Utilizer and 
Ventilator." This consists of a grate with a cast-iron 
back, set in brick work in the wall of the building, and 
attached to an ordinary chimney. Behind this cast-iron 
back is a cast-iron flue, which lets in the air from outside 
and carries it over the back of the fire-place, and 
through the flue, and runs up the chimney near to the 
ceiling, when it empties it into the room. Of course. 



IfuDUDi Development a) id Progress. 39 

before the air roaches the room it is thoroughly warmed 
by the heat passing r.p the chimney, and if the house is 
two stories high, a second flue can be carried to the 
room above, and two rooms can thus be made comfort- 
able with the one fire in the grate, and all the heat will 
be utilized and the rooms thoroughly ventilated, by the 
warmed air coming in through the flues, displacing the 
impure air in the rooms, which will be driven up the 
chimnies. This is certainly a very admirable contri- 
vance, and an3/one now building a new house should 
certainly use this contrivance in most of the rooms, if not 
all. It will soon repay its cost in the saving of fuel, 
besides the perfect ventilation that is secured by it. 
Let all house-builders urge its general adoption by the 
people. 

But if such a house cannot be secured, then the open 
fire-place, or grate, is the next best arrangement ; but 
these are expensive luxuries, as much of the heat gen- 
erated in them is lost, and besides, they do not produce 
such an equable, pleasant temperature throughout the 
house. But for many families, the stove must be 
resorted to for the purpose of warming the house, and 
in such cases, let open stoves always be chosen, and 
then fresh air must be let into the house at all times, or 
the air will become unfit to breathe. 

To secure the ingress of fresh air to the best advan- 
tage, have the chimney and flue against one of the 
outer walls of the house, and opposite the base of the 
stove make an opening through the chimney and outer 
wall, large enough to put in a wooden hollow casing of 
some two inches across. This will admit a draught of 
fresh air directly against the back of the stove, which 
will w^arm it before it gets dififused over the room. 



40 hhiDian Dcvclopviciit mid Progress. 

This will give plenty of fresh warmed air to a room, and 
the foul fiend will find its way out of the room through 
the cracks in the room, or if made very tight, raise a 
window very slightly for the foul air to escape. 

And now, dear mother, if you would save your dar- 
ling babe untold suffering and permanent injury, and 
yourself hours of anxiety and solicitude watching over 
its sick couch, you must have respect to this physiolog- 
ical law of development, and give it plenty of pure 
fresh air to breathe at all hours of the day and night. 
Have the air you allow to enter its room warm and 
comfortable if you can, but, at all events, it must 
approximate purity, or you and your child must suffer 
the penalty. 

And do not forget another important fact, that 
the poisonous carbonic acid exhaled in the room is 
heavier than the air, and consequently settles near the 
floor ; therefore, keep your darling in a high crib, or 
on the bed, and never lay it on a pallet on the floor, 
except in very warm weather, when the entire house 
has been thrown open for some hours and the foul air 
blown out. 

Again, do not commit the too common absurdity of 
enveloping the entire head and face of the infant in the 
bed-clothes, as it compels it to re-breathe the air it 
exhales, and which contains the poisonous carbonic acid 
and dead animal matter its system has thrown off. Hun- 
dreds of infants are injured in this way, and yet, it 
would not be more irrational to feed a babe a portion of 
its own excrement, the very thought of which would 
disgust any sensible mother. 

With all the precautions that can be taken, the air of 
the house is hardly ever as pure as the out-door atmos- 



Human Dcvclof^inciit and Progress. 41 

phere ; therefore, let the Httlc one have the benefit of 
the open air as early in life as practicable, by sending it 
out whenever the weather is pleasant. This may be 
done in two or three weeks after birth, in the warm 
season, and whenever the weather is pleasant in winter, 
and give it an opportunity to breathe the pure air by 
leaving the face uncovered, or only covered with a thin 
white vail. As soon as the little one learns to walk, it 
should spend hours in the open air every day, unless 
the weather is inclement ; but at no season of the year 
should it be permitted to suffer with cold, which it is 
not likely to do, if its clothing is sufficient and does not 
interfere with the free movements of its hmbs and thus 
prevent active exercise. 

Remember, that it is the fire within the organism of 
your darling which keeps up its temperature, and this 
is always increased by active, vigorous exercise and 
play; therefore, encourage this active exercise and play 
in the open air as much as possible, at all suitable times 
and seasons. 

The folly of keeping children shut up in close, ill 
ventilated houses in winter for fear of their "catching 
cold," is doing incalculable mischief all over this country, 
but especially in the middle and northern states. Cer- 
tainly no system can be devised, that will so effectually 
produce the very condition it is supposed to avoid. 
The way to prevent injury from cold, is to furnish the 
system with plenty of good nutritious food, and then 
have it take an abundance of active, vigorous exercise 
in the open air. The exercise compels the full and free 
inhalation of air into the lungs; and if it is out-door 
air it contains sufficient oxygen to sustain the com- 
bustion of the tissues and thus keep up the internal 



42 Hituiaii Development and Progress. 

heat of the organism. And whenever this is the case 
there need be no fear of taking cold. 

There is another vicious idea prevalent in this country, 
and that is,that the children of consumptive parents always 
inherit the disease, and they are consequently doomed 
from birth. It would be better for humanity perhaps, 
if all ideas of inherited disease were banished from the 
minds of the people ; and then there would be more 
rational efforts made to prevent disease. Children do 
not inherit consumption from their parents ; but the 
habits and modes of living that induced the disease in 
the parents are handed down to the children, together 
with a weakened constitution, and these will induce the 
disease in the children just as it did in the parents. 
But take such children away from the vicious influences 
of their homes soon after birth, and place them under 
proper hygienic influences ; give them plenty of good 
nutritious food, warm clothing and plenty of exercise 
in open air, and all appearances of consumption will 
soon be banished from such children. 

And mothers should always remember, that it is their 
delicate weakly children especially, that need the pure, 
fresh air, and simple nutritious foods, and plenty of 
active exercise. It is the judicious exercise in the 
open air, together with all proper hygienic influences 
that gives health, and strength, and vigor to children, 
and not the coddling and nursing of the hot-house culture 
that has become the rage of modern society. Remem- 
ber that a well ventilated house is necessar}^ for children 
to eat and sleep in, but they should live in the open air 
at all other times, as nearly as possible. 



CHAPTER III. 



On the Circulation of the Blood and of the Organs that bring it about 
— The heart the Central Organ — The Arteries, Capillaries and 
Veins — The Heart a Ceaseless Worker — The Rapid Movement of 
the Blood — How Effected — Poem on the Blood, &c. 

IN the previous chapter a great deal was said on the 
biood and the various changes that take place in it 
while circulating through the system. And now it 
would seem proper to give the reader a more definite 
description of the circulation of this life-giving fluid 
through the organism, and the organs concerned in the 
process. These consist of a central organ, the heart, 
the arteries which carry the blood from the heart, 
the capillaries which recieve the blood from the smallest 
branches of the arteries and spread it out over the body, 
and the veins which receive it from the capillaries and 
carry it back to the heart after it has thus made the cir- 
cuit of the entire body. 

The heart, which is really a pump, or rather two 
pumps, for it is a double organ, is the great central 
agent concerned in the circulation. This double pump 
is made up of muscular fibres very similar to the other 
muscles of the body ; and each one of these pumps has 
two chambers, the openings between which are guarded 
by valves that permit the blood to flow through in one 
direction only. 



44 Htmian Development and Progress. 

The heart then, taken as a whole, is merely a heart- 
shaped muscle with four compartments, and valves be- 
tween, lined with the continuation of the lining of the 
veins. When the muscular fibres of the heart are sep- 
arated, they are found to be arranged in two layers, one 
of which runs diagonally across the heart, while the other 
and most fleshy layer, runs directly around it. This ar- 
rangement of the two layers of fibres when the heart 
contracts, throws the apex, or lower end, downward 
against the walls of the chest. The heart is lined on 
the outside with a membrane, called the pericardium, 
which, like the membrane lining the lungs, is folded back 
on itself, forming two layers which secretes a thin fluid 
between them, and which permits the movements of 
the heart without any friction or interference. The 
weight of the heart in the adult is about ten ounces ; its 
size five inches in length by three and a half inches in 
diameter ; and it is suspended to the spinal column in 
the upper part of the chest by blood vessels and liga- 
ments connected with its base ; and it extends down- 
wards and forwards and slightly to the left behind the 
breastbone. It is the lower point or apex of the heart 
that strikes against the chest walls, and that produces 
what is called its impulse, which may be felt by placing 
the hand over the point. 

I have spoken of the heart as being double, or rather 
as two hearts ; the left heart with its two compartments 
being necessary to receive the blood from the lungs, 
where it has been subjected to the influence of the in- 
haled air, and taken a portion of oxygen from the blood 
and given up the accumulated carbonic acid and dead 
animal matter received from the broken down tissues, it 
is then ready to be sent to all parts of the organism. 



Hjnnaii Dcvclopvuiit and Progress. 45 

The ricrht heart receives the blood from the veins and 
sends it to the lungs, to be again exposed to the inhaled 
air, and again oxydized, when it is emptied into the left 
heart again. The upper chambers of both right and 
left heart are called auricles, and the contractions of both 
of these take place at the same time, which sends the 
blood to the lower chambers, called ventricles, and by 
their simultaneous contraction, the blood is sent by the 
right one to the lungs, and by the left one throughout 
the system. 

Let us now trace the circulation of the blood through 
the system as it actually takes place, beginning at the 
lower chamber of the left heart, or left ventricle. The 
contraction of the muscular fibres that make up this 
chamber, sends the blood through the opening into 
the large artery, called the aorta, which soon divides 
and sub-divides into innumerable smaller vessels running 
to all parts of the system. These arteries are also sup- 
plied with muscular fibres in their walls, and by the 
contraction of these fibres, the blood is forced onward 
along the arteries in waves or jets. From the smallest 
of these arteries the blood is emptied into the capillaries, 
which are thickly studded through all parts of the organ- 
ism, and whatever changes take place in the blood, is 
brought about while passing through these infinitely 
small tubes. But while these capillaries are so ex- 
tremely small they cannot be seen without being largely 
magnified, yet they are so numerous throughout the 
body, that they receive all the blood pumped by the 
left heart into the aorta, and distributed through the 
smaller arteries to all parts of the organism, and by 
them emptied into these minute vessels. While the 
blood is traversing these little capillary tubes, it gives 



46 Iluniaii Development and Pf ogress. 

up its nutritious material to build up and rebuild the vari- 
ous tissues of the body, and also takes from the tissues 
the broken down elements which results from whatever 
action had taken place in the organism. 

The blood is now very greatly changed in character 
and color ; for while in the arteries it was a beautiful 
bright scarlet color, it now has a dark purple hue, hav- 
ing given up its life-giving elements, and taken up the 
carbonic acid and decayed animal matter of the worn 
out tissues. In this condition the little capillaries 
empty it into the smaller veins, which all converge 
toward the heart, growing larger as they approach that 
organ by the smaller branches uniting, until a single 
vein empties the entire mass of blood Into the upper 
chamber of the right heart. But before reaching the 
heart again, it receives the nutritive material that re- 
sulted from the digestion of the food, and which was 
emptied into the large vein from the thoracic duct. 

Now the blood is back again in the heart, but in the 
upper chamber of the right heart or right auricle. By 
the contraction of its muscular fibres, and the closure 
of the valves through which it has just passed, it is now 
forced into the lower chamber, or right ventricle, and 
its contraction sends it along the pulmonary arteries to 
the lungs, where it comes under the influence of the air 
we breathe, taking from it the oxygen to replace that 
which was given up to the tissues, and discharging the 
carbonic acid and dead animal matter and watery 
vapor it receives while passing through the little capil- 
laries, and that resulted from the worn out tissues. The 
beautiful bright red color is now restored to it again, 
and it is ready to start on its round through the system 
and is received by the pulmonary veins, which carry it 



Iliojum Development and Progress. 47 

to the upper chamber of the left heart, or left auricle, 
the contraction of which sends it into the left ventricle, 
the point from which we commenced tracing its circuit. 

As the principal changes that take place in the blood 
are brought about while it is traversing these little capil- 
lary vessels, they are really the most important part of 
the circulatory apparatus. These are made up of a 
homogeneous membrane, something hke basement 
membrane, but very thin, of course, and as a general 
rule, they open into arteries on the one side and into 
veins on the other. The use of these minute blood 
tubes, as here remarked, is to bring the blood into close 
proximity to the parts upon which it is to act, and with 
the substances that are to act upon it. 

And here, in these little capillary blood tubes, so very 
small they elude the perception of the keenest vision 
without the aid of magnifying glasses, are continually 
taking place some of the grandest phenomena in nature. 
By the aid of a microscope of high power, the circulation 
of the blood through the capillaries can be seen, by placing 
the web of a living frog's foot on the field of the micro- 
scope. And certainly nothing more beautiful can be 
imagined than the wonderful phenomena of the circula- 
tion through the capillaries thus brought into view. 
And while no apertures can be discovered anywhere in 
the sides of these Httle tubes, yet we find that sub- 
stances pass out of and into them at any point, without 
rupture or visible opening. And all this seems to be 
accomplished through the agency of the simple cell, 
which, let me remark, plays an important part in all the 
phenomena of organic life. If we could watch the 
capillary circulation in the human body, we would 
notice that the little cell, that is destined to pass out of 



4^ thniian Development and Progress. 

the capillary tube, seems to be acted on by some unseen 
force, which first slackens its pace and draws it towards 
the side of the vessel, when, quicker than thought, it is 
seen on the outside of the tube, and that without making 
any visible aperture through which it passed. The 
power that brings this about no one can fathom; and all 
we know about it is, that the little cell is needed to re- 
build the tissue that has been broken down by action, 
and some unknown force is bearing it onward to its 
destined goal. For we find that the little cell is not yet at 
rest after it has passed out of the capillary tube, but 
that it moves off to some distant point, where it becomes 
fixed as a part of the new structure. If it were the 
capillary circulation in the muscular tissue we were ex- 
amining, we would find the little cell that escaped from 
the capillary tube always rebuilding the cell in the mus- 
cular fibrillae that contraction has broken down, and 
thus the structure will be kept complete. 

Thus we learn there is a circulation outside the circu- • 
lation through the blood tubes, and could our vision 
penetrate all the minute structures, we would find the 
whole living body in a constant state of activity and 
change. Change in motion seems to be the great law of 
organic life. And how important it is that this activity 
and change be quickened and accelerated by all the 
means at our command : as the daily rubbing and bathing 
the surface of the body, and exercise of the muscles in 
the open air. By this means all the vital processes of 
the body may be heightened and increased, and all the 
pleasurable sensations secured, by which Hfe itself be- 
comes a joy instead of a burden. 

And let me say to mothers, that instead of seeking 
amusement for your children that will keep them quiet 



fill} nan Development and Progress. 49 

in the house, for fear they may soil their clothing, send 
them out doors to engage in athletic sports that will 
quicken all the powers of life. Better, far better, have 
the clothing of the children soiled and tattered, than to 
have their moral natures pointed with all manner of 
evil influences, brought upon them by disregard of 
proper hygienic laws. 

Now, having traced the circulation through the arte- 
ries and capillaries, and observed the changes that take 
place in the blood while passing through these minute 
tubes, let us see by what means it gets back to the heart. 

As before remarked, the veins are the common car- 
riers that accomplish this, and their walls are made up 
of the same basement membrane that makes up the 
walls of the capillary tube, but it is lined on the inside 
with scaly-like cells, and on the outside surrounded with 
sinewy fibres, by which the veins are strengthened and 
thickened. In the larger branches there is considerable 
muscular structure, but it is that kind of muscle called 
nonstriated, and therefore it is not self-contractile. 

The large veins of the head and trunk have valves at 
irregular distances, by which the blood is prevented 
from flowing backward, and in the veins of the lower 
extremities these valves are very numerous, as the blood 
in them is much more likely to flow backward than in 
the upper extremities, and from violations of the phys- 
iological law we often find the veins in the lower limbs 
of elderly persons, distended and distorted from the 
pressure, until the valves cannot close the orifice, and we 
have what is known as varicose veins. This disease 
sometimes produces a great amount of inconvenience 
and suffering, and therefore, the causes that are known 
to produce it should always be avoided. These are 



50 Human Devclopnuiit and Progress. 

tight bandages around the Hmbs, standing too long in 
the erect position, and want of proper exercise of the 
muscles. Muscular contraction has a great deal to do 
with the circulation through the veins, and must never 
be neglected, if we would preserve the system in good 
health and vigor. 

To form some idea of the rapidity with which the 
blood is sent through the system, let us look again at 
the central organ, the heart. The number of con- 
tractions of the heart in adult life, varies from sixty to 
eighty per minute, more frequently in woman than in 
man, and in early than in later life, varying also accord- 
ing to health, amount of exercise taken, state of the 
mind, and other influences. The capacity of each ven- 
tricle is something over an ounce; but if only an ounce 
be discharged at each contraction, and there are eighty 
contractions per minute, it will equal five pounds for 
that length of time, or three hundred pounds, that 
passes through the heart each hour. And when we reflect 
that this vast amount of blood must pass through the 
little capillary tubes, that are too small to be seen by 
the naked eye, and that during this passage it is con- 
tinually undergoing changes, giving out new material 
where it is required, and taking in the decomposed mat- 
ter of the worn out tissues, we may form some idea of 
the wonderful activity that is constantly going on in 
these mortal bodies of ours; and when we reflect that 
the preservation ^i the bod}- in a state of health and use- 
fulness, rests upon this continued activity, we can cer- 
tainly see the folly and wickedness of interfering with, 
or checking it, either by tight clothing, excessive eating, 
or in any other way. 



Hun I ail DcvcIopDioit ami Progress, 51 

The following poem on "The Blood," gives the course 
of the circulation in verse, and although it leaves out 
the capillary system, that comes in between the arteries 
and veins, it is otherwise a pretty correct statement of 
the circulation, and the importance of keeping the blood 
pure. It is taken from the Science of HealtJi, for 1874, 
and the correspondent who sent it, and also the poem 
on "The Skin," inserted at the close of the next chap- 
ter, claims to have found them in the April, 1874, 
number of the Hong Kong, China, Press. The author 



IS not given: 



TUB BLOOID- 



Six thousand years after his era began. 
The astonishing fact was discovered by man 
That the blood in his body does not remain still, 
But rushes along like the race of a mill. 

Certain vessels, called arteries, hidden within 
The body, conduct from the heart to the skin; 
While others called veins throughout every part 
Of the sj'stem conduct from the skin lo the heart. 

The heart every instant gets filled with new blood, 
Prepared as you'll see from the air and the food. 
And tnus blood is driven thi'ough the whole frame 
As from a force pump by the force of the same. 

The blood in its passage leaves everywhere 
Some of what it got from the food and the air, 
Which is all taken up, 'ere a moment be gone. 
To replenish the tissiie, tlie fat and the bone. 

Throughout tiie whole structure— bone, muscle or skin, 
Where the arteries end, the veins begins ; 
And changing its color from red blood to black, 
The blood enters the veins and is so carried back. 

When the old blood arrives by the veins at the heart, 

It is mixed and cliurned up in a chamber apart. 

With a thick, milky fluid, nutritious and good. 

Which the stomach and bowels have drawn from the food. 



Human Development and Progress. 52 

It is then driven off by a similar force 
To the lungs, where the air cells receive it in course, 
Where at every breath it takes up through the skin, 
The material parts of the air within. 

Thus regenerated, vigorous, lusty and red, 

And once more forced back upon its fountain head, 

To the artery chamber it rushes amain, 

And is leady to start upon service again. 

What we get from the air is equal in weight 
To what we derive from the food which we eat ; 
But what we breathe out, I must tell you once more, 
Is of poisons the worst, as I told you before. 

In a much clearer light you now may perceive 
What its hoped, you'll hold fast, and devoutly believe, 
That for health and enjoyment the very best fare 
Is the soundest of food and the purest of air. 

Then show that you value your blood and your skin, 
Remove every nuisance without and within ; 
Obey all the laws that are made to that end, 
And regard the inspector of health as your friend. 

If your house has a taint, employ in time 
Either Carbolic Acid, or Chloride of Lime ; 
But of all disinfectants the earth is the best- 
Smells cover'd by earth, are forever at rest. 

With all these precautions, don't fear any harm. 
And yield to no panic or foolish alarm ; 
When the enemy comes, be brave, but prepared- 
Survey your defences and stand on your guard. 



CHAPTER IV. 



The Skin — Its Structure and Function — The great Purifier of the 
Blood — Importance of Keeping it Clean — Water the Agent — The 
various kinds of Baths — Poem on the Skin. 

TO get a correct idea of the extent and importance 
of the function of the skin, the reader must have 
some knowledge of its structure. It is made up of 
two layers ; the outer one, which is called epidermis, 
consists of flattened cells which become hardened scales 
as they approach the surface. Through these cells, 
winds the perspiratory tubes that carry the perspira- 
tion from the little glands at their base to the surface. 
These glands and tubes are extremely small, but are 
thickly studded through the skin, to the number of 
3,500 to each square inch of surface, as claimed by 
some authorities; and as there are about 2,500 square 
inches of surface on an average sized man, and the 
gland with its tube measures nearly one-fourth inch in 
length, this will give some twenty-eight miles of per- 
spiratory tubing for such sized person. This perspira- 
tory apparatus carries off over two pints or liquid mat- 
ter every twenty four hours, or ninety-one gallons a 
year, and reckoning eight pounds to the gallon, will 
give the enormous amount of seven hundred and twenty 
eight pounds an average sized man sweats out of his 
body every year. 



54 Human Dcvclopnioit and Progress. 

If we will take a very thin slice of the skin from a 
wound, or cut, and place it on the field of a microscope 
of high power, we will find the bottom of the perspira- 
tory gland completely enveloped in a network of little 
capillary blood tubes ; and it is from the contents of 
these blood tubes that the gland secretes this great 
amount of waste matter, and the tubes carry it to the 
surface of the skin, where it evaporates and passes into 
the clothing or surrounding atmosphere. 

On the inner surface of this outer layer of the skin, 
is the basement membrane, from which the cells of the 
outer layer start out ; and this basement membrane 
contains the coloring matter which gives the distinguish- 
ing characteristic color of different tribes and nations. 
The African's skin contains the largest amount of a 
black pigment, that gives him his dark color. But all 
nations and peoples have more or less of coloring mat- 
ter stored away in this basement membrane of the skin, 
except in a few isolated cases, and these, strangely 
enough, are almost always found among the Africans 
or dark races, and are called Albinos. The basement 
membrane of their epidermis is destitute of all coloring 
matter, and they are certainly odd looking creatures. 

And yet, strangely enough, there are young ladies in 
this enlightened country that strive to imitate these Al- 
binos by covering up the coloring matter in their pretty 
faces with a poisonous white powder, or equally poison- 
ous liquid substance. And even some mothers are 
indiscreet enough to use these" substances over the 
skins of their infant children, to the very great injury of 
the little one, for if the poison is not absorbed, it clogs 
up the open mouths of the perspiratory tubes and pre- 
vents the waste matter from being discharged from the 



Ihiiiiati DcvclopDicnt and Progress. 



D^ 



skin. This waste matter thus remains permanently 
fixed in the skin, and if several of the perspiratory tubes 
are thus closed, a dark discolored spot will be left in 
the skin, and the perspiratory tubes thus closed, will 
be permanently disabled from performing their office. 
Hence it is that but few ladies who use these powders, 
or rouges, have smooth, clear skins, and the very de- 
fect they are endeavoring to remove, is thus greatly in- 
creased. 

At the bottom of the basement membrane is the 
papillary portion of the true skin, in which commences 
the nerves of touch, which are also surrounded by little 
capillary tubes, and if this portion of skin becomes 
exposed, by accident or otherwise, it becomes extremely 
painful, even if touched by nothing but the air. This 
papillary portion forms the outer portion of the true 
skin, which is made up of sinewy fibres woven around 
the blood tubes, perspiratory glands and nerves, and 
near the bottom the meshes become larger and are filled 
up with clusters of fat cells. 

We have thus found this outer covering of the body 
to be quite a complicated and important organ in the 
human economy. The little perspiratory glands that 
are so thickly imbedded in its structure, are silently and 
constantly carrying off the impurities of the body, and 
without their aid, we could not live for a single day. Of 
the thirty-two ounces and over of liquid matter they 
are throwing off every twenty-four hours, one-sixteenth 
is solid matter, taken from the worn out tissues of the 
body, and is extremely poisonous, if allowed to continue 
in the blood, from which these little glands extract it. 

Now the reader is no doubt wondering how this great 
amount of material gets out of the blood tubes and into 



56 Jhimaii Development and Progress. 

these little perspiratory glands, as there is no open pass- 
age way between them. As almost all the changes that 
take place in the human organism are brought about in 
the same way, I will endeavor to make the process plain 
enough to be understood by everyone ; and as the under- 
standing is greatly assisted by actual experiment, let the 
reader take an ^gg, and place it in a strong acid for 
some time; acetic acid will do. After a while, the acid 
will dissolve off the shell and will leave the &g<g enclosed 
in a delicate membrane. 

Now, place the ^gg in a cup of pure water and two 
processes will immediately begin to take place: the pure 
water will pass through the membrane into the ^gg, and 
the thicker substance of the ^gg will pass out into the 
water; and these two processes would continue until both 
substances become of the same density, if both pro- 
cesses went on with equal rapidity. But the passage of 
the thinner to the thicker fluid is always the more rapid, 
and in a short time, the membrane of the Q.gg will 
become so full it will burst under the pressure. Now 
these two processes that take place through the mem- 
brane enclosing the ^gg, are called endosmosis and 
exosmosis — the passage of the water in through the 
membrane is called endosmose and the passage of the 
albumen of the ^gg out into the water is exosmose. 

The little perspiratory glands are made up of a thin 
membrane, like that surrounding the *tgg, only many 
times more delicate, and through It these processes are 
continually taking place. But while this accounts for 
the passage of the fluid contents of the little capillary 
blood tubes, it does not account for the whole of the 
process ; for we find the poisonous substances of the 
worn out tissues of the body are selected in preference 



HuDiaJi DevclopDioit and Progress. 57 

of all the solid substances found dissolved in the blood, 
and we must look to another law for an explanation of 
this. 

The po\v^er of selecting certain substances from the 
blood and leaving others, is certainly a most wonderful 
phenomenon ; and to explain it, we must go to the very 
beginning of life, a simple cell, or nucleated cell, for all 
animal life begins in these, and most of the processes of 
development take place through the medium of these 
primitive cells. What then are these cells that play so 
important a part in the processes of life? When viewed 
through a microscope the simple cell is found to be a 
membranous sack, filled with fluid, while the nucleated 
cell has in addition, a dark spot on one side, which is 
called the nucleus; and in this nucleus seems to reside 
the power of selecting certain substances and leaving 
others. Just what this power is, we cannot tell ; it 
would perhaps be proper to call it vital affinity, as it 
differs somewhat from the chemical affinity that belongs 
to many inorganic substances. 

Now the inner surface of the perspiratory gland is 
completely lined with these little cells, and these are the 
toilers which are continually at work taking from the 
blood in the little capillaries that surround the gland, 
the worn out tissues of the body, that would destroy 
life in a few hours, if allowed to accumulate in the 
system. , 

It is thus seen that the outer covering of the body is 
a most important organ, and is continually engaged in 
the purification of the system of the effete matter that 
would otherwise accumulate in it and poison all the 
avenues of life. 



58 Hmnan Development and Progress. 

There are also other glands in the skin, called seba- 
ceous, which are distributed in different quantities over 
the surface of the body, and secreting a sebaceous, oily 
material, that seems to be needed to keep the skin soft 
and flexible, and also to lubricate the hair. Many of 
these sebaceous glands are therefore found just beneath 
the roots of the hair, and by their ducts open into the 
hair follicles. 

The nails are really appendages of the epiderma, or 
outer layer of the skin, and are for the protection of 
the ends of the fingers and toes. Their origin is in a 
fold of the cutis, or outer skin, and they grow from their 
roots outward, increasing in length and thickness. A 
remarkable feature in relation to the growth of the nails 
is, that their rate of growth is dependent upon the con- 
dition of the general health. During periods of sick- 
ness, or partial abstinence from food, the growth of the 
nails will be retarded. 

The hair may also be considered as an appendage of 
the cutis, and "each one originates in a little foUicle 
formed by a depression of the outer skin. The bottom 
of the foUicle is the place of origin. The hair consists 
of two portions, the outer, or cortical, and the inner, 
or medullary." When viewed through a microscope, 
the surface of the hair is found to be made up of flat- 
tened scales, which become more rounded lower down, 
and at the root become perfect ^rounded cells. 

Like the basement membrane of the skin, these scales 
contain a coloring matter which gives to the hair its 
color. In the black or African race, this coloring mat- 
ter of the hair contains a large proportion of iron. 

Now, as the sebaceous glands in the skin secrete an 
oily substance for the lubrication of the hair, and as 



HuDian Developme7it and Progress. 59 

this substance is best thrown out when the scalp is kept 
clean and free from all greasy substances, it is evident 
the hair will be more soft and glossy if nothing is ap- 
plied to it except warm soft water, and this only often 
enough to keep the scalp clean. 

How very important then, that mothers especially, 
and all who have charge of young children, understand 
how to keep the skin in the best working order, as so 
much of the health and purification of the little ones 
depends upon the normal condition of this important 
organ. The function of the skin is more active in the 
young than in the old, and it therefore requires more 
vigilance to keep it in good condition. Of course every 
mother knows that water is the principal agent to accom- 
plish this; but proper judgment must be used in its 
application, as it is capable of doing mischief as well as 
good. 

The poisonous substance thrown out by the skin is 
somewhat sticky, and if not frequently washed off, the 
perspiratory ducts become clogged with it and are then 
unable to continue to perform their office, and the effete 
matter will accumulate in the system. This poisonous 
matter acts most injuriously upon the brain and nervous 
system, and the mental and moral faculties cannot prop- 
erly grow and develop if the perspiratory ducts are not 
kept open: hence, bathing is an essential element of suc- 
cess in all attempts at human development. And while 
this is generally pretty effectually done with the very 
young infant, but as the cares of the mother increase 
and demand so much of her time and attention, the 
bathing of the older children is sometimes neglected, 
especially if they are boys. Whether this has any 



Co HiLinan Development and Progress. 

thing to do with the stronger tendencies of boys to 
rough unseemly ways, is a question that might be profi- 
tably discussed. Dr. Coles, in his work of hygiene, 
says it is almost impossible for a foul oath to issue from 
the mouth of a person who is kept at all times scrupu- 
lously clean. 

While this may be an exagerated assertion, yet how 
often do we hear the foulest oaths proceeding from the 
dens of squalor, filth and pollution, in the large cities 
and towns; but once in a while we see in the motley 
crowd a little urchin that is perfectly clean in his rags, 
and never an impure word will be uttered by him. The 
surface of his body being kept clean, the perspiratory 
glands separate the impure matter of the used up tis- 
sues from his system, and consequently his blood is kept 
pure and uncontaminated, and from the blood are all 
the issues of life. 

Then let the mother see and know for herself, that 
her little ones have the use of the bath often enough to 
keep the skin in proper condition to perform its office. 
As a purifier of the blood, the skin is the most im- 
portant organ in the body ; and its condition must be 
guarded with the utmost vigilance. 

As to the kind of bath best adapted to the purpose 
of cleansing the skin, for children and even for adults, 
a bath tub of suitable dimensions is very necessary; but 
as every family cannot secure this treasure, something 
must be substituted in its place ; and the next best 
arrangement is the wash bowl, sponge and towel, and 
these are certainly within the reach of every family. 
And now the most important matter to be considered, 
is the proper temperature of the water ; and here 
mothers often make mistakes through a want of the 



Hiiniaii Devclopnicnt aud Progress. G\ 

proper knowledge of the full effects of the bath. There 
are two effects that follow all baths of whatever kind — 
the immediate, and the remote or secondary. 

The immediate effect of a warm bath in cold weather 
is very pleasant while in the water, but as soon as the 
cold air strikes the surface, after coming out of the 
water, the blood is driven from the surface, the sensa- 
tion of chilliness comes on and continues for a long 
time, and may do very serious mischief. This makes 
the warm bath a very hazardous proceeding during cold 
weather, and should never be used, except with infants 
and young children who are kept in a warm room ; and 
no mother should ever use warm water in bathing her 
children in winter, if they are old enough to run out 
doors and be exposed to the cold atmosphere. But on 
the contrary, let the entire surface of the body be thor- 
oughly sponged with tepid water, and then quickly 
rubbed with a coarse dry towel until the skin is all in a 
glow, and then put on the clothing, and all the advan- 
tages of the bath have been secured, and the skin is in 
the best condition to perform its proper function. 

In warm weather, the warm bath may be indulged in 
with safety, and it is really a great luxury ; for while in 
the water the blood is unduly drawn to the skin, and 
the feeling of warmth is rather disagreeable, but the 
secondary effect of reaction leaves the surface cool and 
pleasant for a long time. But for all times and seasons, 
there is no sort of bathing so profitable as sponging the 
entire surface of the body with pure tepid water, fol- 
lowed by thoroughly rubbing with a dry, coarse towel. 
Some good toilet soap should be used occasionally to rid 
the skin of the decayed animal matter that resists the 
action of pure water. 



62 Hiii}ia)i Development aiid Progress. 

These sponge baths are within the reach of all per- 
sons, high or low, rich or poor, young and old, and 
needed by all classes and conditions ot human existence; 
and for the purpose of cleansing the body and purifying 
the blood, are all that is really essential in the way of 
baths. But young and growing children should have 
the benefit of them as often as twice a week, and in very 
warm weather three or four times, or even every day 
may be beneficial. And let no mother conclude she 
can neglect this important duty to her children without 
inflicting serious injury upon them. She must remem- 
ber it is not merely to cleanse the outer surface of the 
body that this bathing is required, but for the purifica- 
tion of the blood also; and as the blood is declared to 
be the life, the condition of the whole being, physical, 
mental and moral, is made purer and better by the faith- 
ful performance of this duty. 

This fact is very beautifully expressed in a poem pub- 
lished in The Science of Health for 1874, entitled, 

THE s k: 1 3sr. 



There's a skin without and a skin williin, 

A covering skin and a lining skin, 

But the skin within is the skin without, 

Doubled inwards and carried conipletelj' throughout. 

The palate, the nostrils, the wind-pipe and tliroat, 
Are all of them lined with this inner coat, 
Which through every part is made to extend— 
Lungs, liver, and bowels, from end to end. 

The outer skin is a marvelous plan 

For exuding the dregs of the flesh of man ; 

While the inner extracts from the food and the air, 

What is needed the waste in his flesh to repair. 



Hnmaii Dcvclopvioit a)id Progress. C)}^ 

Wliile it goes well with the out^side skin 
You may feel pretty sure all's right within ; 
For if anything puts the inner skin out 
Of order, it troubles the skin without. 

The doctor, you know, examines your tongue. 
To see if your stomach or bowels are wrong ; 
If he feels tliat your hand is hot and dry, 
He is able to tell the reason why. 

Too much brandy, and whisky, or gin, 
Is apt to disorder the skin within ; 
While if dirty or dry, the skin without 
Refuses to let the sweat come out. 

Good people all: have a care of your skin, 
Both that without and that within ; 
To the first you'll give plenty of water and soap, 
To the last little else beside water we'll hope. 

But always be very particular where 
You get your water, j^our food and your air ; 
For if these be tainted, or rendered impure. 
It will have its effect on your blood— be sure. 

The food which will ever for you be the best 
Is that you like most and can soonest digest ; 
All unripe fruit and decaying flesh 
Be^^are of ; and fish, that is not very fresh. 

Your water, transparent and pure, as you think it, 
Had better be filter'd and boil'd 'ere you use it. 
Unless you know surely that nothing unsound 
Can have got to it, over or under the ground. 

But of all things, the most I would have you beware 
Of breathing the poison of once breathed air; 
When in bed, whether out or at home you may be. 
Always open your window and let it go free. 

With clothing and exercise keep yourself warm, 
And change your clothes quickly if drenched in a storm. 
For a cold caught by chilling the outside skin, 
Flies at once to the delicate lining within. 

All of you who thus kindly take care of your skin. 
And attend to its wants without and within, 
2seed never of small-pox feel any fears, 
And your skin may last you a hundred years. 



CHAPTER V. 



Muscular Structure — How Muscle is Formed — Muscular Movements 
and How Brouji;ht About — Exercise of the Muscles Necessary to 
Preserve Their Strength — Rest Equally Necessary to Rebuild 
Them. 

LET us now investigate the physiological laws that 
relate to muscular movements, and the impor- 
tance of adopting an appropriate system of physiological 
exercise and rest. To make this investigation as instruc- 
tive as possible, it is necessary the reader should have a 
knowledge of the muscular structure, and how it brings 
about the various movements of the body. 

The muscle^hen, which is the lean flesh of the body, 
is a very complicated structure, when critically exam- 
ined. If you will take a piece of lean beef and soak it 
for a time in cold water, by carefully pulling it apart, 
you Avill find it made up of small stringy threads, ort 
fibres. Now, by placing one of these fibres under the 
field of the microscope, it will be found to consist of 
several small strings, or fibrils, bound together by a 
sheath (called sarcolemma), that enclose them all in a 
single bundle, or fibre. And if the microscope be of 
sufficiently high power, one of these minute strings, or 
fibrils, will be seen to consist of little nucleated cells, 
arranged in a row, like a string of beads; and these 
fibrils and fibres of muscle are everywhere encircled by 
innumerable little capillary blood tubes. Whenever 



Ifuuiaii I\vclop])ic)i( and Progress. 65 

any changes are to be effected in the human organism, 
these Httle capillary blood tubes are indispensably neces- 
sary, in order to bring the blood, with its free oxygen, 
in near proximity to the tissue that is to be changed. 

Muscles then consist of bundles, or fasciculi of fibres, 
bound together by an enclosing sheath, and a single 
fibre is made up of several fibrils united together in the 
same manner. Single fibrils are found to consist of 
simple cells, arranged in ro\^, and the whole muscular 
structure is everywhere interspersed by capillary blood 
tubes, and the smallest branches of nerves. As the 
muscles are under the control of the nervous system, 
these nerve trunks are necessary to coimect the muscles 
of the body with the central source of nerve influence, 
the brain and spinal column, which last may be consid- 
ered merely as a prolongation of the brain. 

Now to secure the movements of the various parts of 
the body, the muscles must be attached to different 
bones, and above and below the joints, or their con- 
traction would not produce any movement of the body. 
The contraction takes place by the shortening of the 
cells that make up the fibrils of muscle, and which, of 
course, increases the circumference. But not all the 
cells of a fibril are brought into action ; but this action 
usually begins at one end of the fibril and extends along 
its length as the muscular power is needed. Nor does 
all the fibres of a muscle act at the same time, unless 
there is a call for a great amount of muscular strength, 
and then the muscle soon exhausts whatever force it 
may have stored up in it. This shortening and swelling 
of the fibres may be seen and felt when a large muscle is 
brought into action. 

10 



66 IIiinuDi Dcvelopmoit and Progress. 

But the contraction of a muscle could not take place 
without a supply of oxygen be furnished b}' the blood 
in the little capillary blood tubes which run ever)'where 
along the outside of the muscular fibrils. The con- 
traction is brought about in this way : the little cells 
that form the fibril, have coalesced together, and the par- 
tition walls being absorbed, leaves the row of cells in the 
form of a hollow tubule, and the oxygen in the capillaries 
having a strong affinity for the contents of this tubule, 
extracts a part of it, leaving a vacuum ; and now the 
cohesive contraction of the remaining particles in the 
tubule draws them together, thus producing a shorten- 
ing of the fibril. The contents of the tubules which 
were drawn out by the oxygen have formed new and 
lower compounds, and these must now be cast out of 
the system, and the capillaries must furnish the new 
material to again refill the tubule, when the fibril will 
assume its original shape and will be ready for duty 
again. 

But the process of renewal is alwaj^s more slowly 
brought about than the contraction ; and if the blood 
does not furnish the proper material to refill the cell 
walls, the fibrils that have contracted will be complete- 
ly destroyed, and before the muscle can act again, it 
must be rebuilt entire. The broken down contents of 
the cells are carried to the lungs, kidneys and skin, 
where by the selection of the little cells in these organs, 
or by the process of exosmosis, they are separated from 
the nutrient substances of the blood and cast out of the 
system. 

Thus the blood in the little capillaries performs a 
triple office : for it supplies the oxygen that is neces- 
sary to bring about the contraction of the muscle ; it 



HiDNdDi DcvelopjJioii a) id Progress. 6y 

also takes up the new chemical compounds, formed by 
the action of the muscle, and furnishes the nutritive 
material to rebuild the fibrils destroyed. 

The power of contraction that exists in muscle, is 
called its contractility, and this power is always in pro- 
portion to the amount of oxygen the blood supplies to 
the muscle, and the nutrient material to rebuild the 
part destroyed. And as the oxygen is taken up by 
the blood during respiration, anything that interferes 
with free and full breathing, lessens muscular strength. 
The same effect will be produced by inhaling an impure 
or noxious atmosphere or even a very rarified air, as 
that found at high elevations. 

Owing to the fact that muscular contractility exists 
for a short time after death, and the facility with which 
examinations can be effected, investigators have been 
enabled to arrive at positive conclusions concerning 
muscular movements, and there is now no question of 
the fact that the action of the oxygen in the blood of 
the little capillaries, upon the contained substance of 
the cells that make up the fibrils of the muscle, is the 
cause of the contraction, and that this action produces 
the death of the part of the fibril that engages in the 
action, and this dead matter must now be separated 
from the body or it will poison the system if allowed to 
accumulate in it. 

There is another fact in relation to muscular contrac- 
tion that is too often overlooked, and yet it is one of 
vast importance to the well being of the individual ; and 
that is, the muscular strength can only be kept at its 
greatest power by the contraction being brought about 
as frequently and fully as the nutrition of the system 
can renew the muscular structure. In other words, 



OS Hmnan Development and Progress. 

the muscular power will always be in proportion to the 
newness of the muscular structure ; and if the muscle 
be allowed to remain unused for too long a time it loses 
its power of contractility completely, and if now examined 
it is found to have undergone that sort of change that 
takes place in muscular structure soon after death — that 
is, it is converted into a gray, greasy substance called 
adipocire. And now this partially dead substance 
must be removed from the body, and new muscular 
structure formed in its place, before the individual can 
perform movements with the muscle so changed. 

Let mothers remember then, that when they encase 
the bodies of their daughters in corsets compressing the 
muscles of the chest so as to prevent their proper move- 
ments, they not only obstruct the free entrance of oxy- 
gen into the lungs ; but if continued long enough, it 
actually brings about the partial death of the muscles 
so compressed, and thus \'our daughters become unable 
to take full inspirations after the obnoxious bandaging 
is removed ; and long periods of time and proper regi- 
men will be required to replace the dead muscular 
structure with living tissue. And the breathing power 
of thousands of young ladies are thus permanenth' less- 
ened in this way ; and yet the victims have not the 
least suspicion of their being the subjects of an\- abnor- 
mal condition whatever. 

But the life force of any individual is ahva}'s in pro- 
portion to the breathing power ; and anything that in- 
jures or interferes with the capacity of respiration, les- 
sens the life forces to the same extent. And in all 
cases where there has been compression of the chest 
walls of sufficient amount to injure the muscular struc- 
ture before the reparative process can take place, there 



Human Devclopnie)it and Prog) ess. 69 

is always danger of disease taking hold of the in- 
active lung structure, and such young ladies are liable 
to become victims of that dread destroyer of the young 
and beautiful, consumption. 

With the explanation now given of the way muscu- 
lar contraction is brought about, and the effect the con- 
traction produces upon the muscular structure — that 
the strength of muscle is always in proportion to its 
newness, the reader can certainly see the necessit)- of 
adopting a regular system of exercise that will tear 
down as great an amount of muscular structure every 
day, as the day's consumption of food can rebuild. 
But the exercise must not be confined to a few of the 
muscles of the body and the remainder be allowed to 
remain inactive, or the used muscles will break down 
with overwork, and the unused ones be changed into 
adipocire and dwindle away from want of use. The exer- 
cise of a muscle always causes an additional flow^ of 
blood through its network of capillary blood tubes, and 
this additional flow of blood brings the nutrient material 
to rebuild the used up structure, and the muscle will 
continue to strengthen until its maximum power is 
reached. 

Parents, therefore, should always be careful to see that 
their growing children exercise all the muscles of their 
bodies in some way every day. If they are put to any 
kind of labor that onh,' brings a few muscles of their 
bodies into use, then they should be encouraged to 
engage in some sort of vigorous out-door sports 
or games that will bring all the muscles into action ; 
and parents cannot shirk this duty without inflicting 
lasting injury upon their children. And instead of 
parents forbidding their children using the left hand 



/O riunian Dri'rlop}iif?it and J^rogress. 

when they first begin to handle playthings or other 
objects, they should be encouraged and learned to 
use one hand as much as the other, in order that there 
may be symmetrical development of their muscular sys- 
tem, and also that their power may be increased. If 
children were taught to use either hand in writing, and 
in the use of all tools and implements of labor, their 
powers would be almost doubled, and the development 
of their muscular system would then be in harmony 
with nature's laws. 

I know this constant watchfulness on the part of pa- 
rents over their children's daily Hfe, may seem irksome 
and troublesome to many, but it will be well for such to 
remember that whatever will tend to produce perfect 
physical, mental and moral development is worth all 
it costs, and is really less troublesome than that system 
of management that tends to a diseased condition of the 
physical, mental and moral nature. The importance of 
adopting a regular system of exercise with young chil- 
dren can hardly be over-estimated in its bearings upon 
the future of their lives. Normal physical development 
cannot be secured without exercise ; and without this 
normal physical development, it is useless to expect the 
maximum development of the mental and moral pow- 
ers. This is the foundation upon which is to be reared 
all human attainments, and unless the foundation is 
sound and solid, the superstructure will be incomplete 
and faulty. No one can doubt this who will look at 
the imperfect growth, the distorted forms, and extreme 
nervousness of the American people as now found in 
this countr}^ Hundreds of men, women and children, 
are yearly dying prematurely, for lack of early, judi- 
cious physical training ; and hundreds of others are 
living blighted and ruined lives. 



Ihoiiaii Dtvclopuioit mid JVoi^/rss. yi 

To secure a well balanced physical organism, re(iuircs 
careful, systematic training and culture. 

As remarked b}- Dr. Dio Lewis: "The body is not 
a single organ, which, if exercised, is sure to grow in 
the right direction. On the contrary, it is an exceed- 
ingly complicated machine, the symmetrical development 
of which requires thoughtful discrimination and careful 
management." And yet the majority, of parents leave 
the proper physical development of their children to 
mere chance, and seem to be only anxious to have them 
elaborately and fashionably clothed. But the terrible 
competition of modern life is such that hundreds of 
physical organisms break down under the pressure, 
even before the prime of life is reached. To obviate 
this growing defect in the education and training of 
American youth, the regimen of the nursery and the 
school must be made to conform to the true physiolog- 
ical laws of life. 

The wants of each individual case demands the most 
careful scrutiny ; and especially must the obnoxious 
practice be abandoned, of so clothing the bodies of 
girls as to seriously interfere with the freest movements 
of all the limbs. Certainly woman needs a vigorous 
and healthy organism as much as man, and to secure it, 
there must be a thorough and systematic exercise of 
all the bodily organs during the period of growth and 
development. And we find girls are naturally as much 
inclined to indulge in active, vigorous sports and plays 
as are boys, provided they are not restricted by paren- 
tal injunctions, or their free bodily movement impaired 
by injudicious clothing. 

Then let me say to you mothers, give your daugh- 
ters as much opportunity for active out door exercise 



72 HiDuaii Development aud Progress. 

as your sons, and see that they make use of it. [{ there 
is danger of their clothing being soiled in the active 
sports they are inclined to indulge in, do not forbid the 
sports, but change the clothing so their movements can 
be free and unencumbered ; for it is more important your 
daughters should have good health and vigorous con- 
stitutions after while, than that they shall be fashionably 
clothed now. And whenever the fashionable dress in- 
terferes with the proper observance of the true physio- 
logical laws of life, either the fashionable dress must 
be changed and made to conform to these laws, or the 
health and life of the little ones must suffer. 

I know that parents frequently persuade themselves 
they are doing no injury by this fashionable toilet, 
as it is only worn by their daughters when they go out 
in society, and that during the night time, and when in 
the privacy of the famih^ circle, their bodies are free and 
untrammeled with the obnoxious toggery. But the 
physiological laws cannot be violated ^for any length of 
time without leaving the evil effects stamped upon the 
constitution. These effects may not show themselves 
for some time, but come they will upon those who vio- 
late the laws, or upon their children. 

Many a mother is handing down to her children the 
evil consequences of violated physiological law that she 
hardly felt herself; and these evil influences will be in- 
tensified in each succeeding generation, unless some- 
thing is done to break their force. 

But while active physical exercise is necessary to all 
growing children, and that a vigorous constitution can- 
not be secured without it ; yet like everything else, it 
may be carried too far, and may do mischief instead of 
good. As Herbert Spencer has said,'/' The amount of 



lliiiiian Dci'clopiniiit ami Progress. 73 

vital energy which the bod\' at any moment possesses 
is Hmited, and being hmited, it is impossible to get 
from it more than a fixed quantity of results." And if 
parents are taxing the mental powers of their children, 
either at home or at school, then the exercise must be 
limited to the lowest amount required to secure a vigor- 
ous constitution, and leaving sufficient vital energy to 
be expended in mental operations. But the severe 
taxing of the mental powers should never be allowed 
during the period of physical development of children, 
as such severe use of the mental faculties must injure 
and dwarf the physical organism. But to secure the 
necessary physical exercise for the proper growth and 
development of children, a definite time should be ex- 
pended daily in vigorous out-door sports, which is al- 
ways better than the in-door gymnasium ; and when 
the weather is not too inclement the open air exercise 
should always be preferred. If there be but one child 
in the family, let the mother indulge in a romp with the 
little one out-doors, and both will be greatly benefited 
thereby. 

But along with a regular and judicious system of ex- 
ercise, there must be sufficient time allowed for rest. 
It is only during rest that the tissues of the body that 
have been used up by exercise or labor are rebuilt from 
the nutritious substances the blood has gained from the 
digested food. While the tearing down of the tissues 
takes place only during exercise or labor, the process 
of rebuilding them is effected, while the system is in a 
state of repose. 

Therefore, to bring the system of children in harmo- 
ny with the physiological law^s, regular daily periods of 
rest are just as essential to normal development as is 
11 



74 Hwnan Devclopviait and Progress. 

that of exercise. And especially should children be al- 
lowed a period of quiet just after eating their regular 
meals, in order that the digestion of the food may not 
be interfered with. It is a physiological law, that while 
performing its natural function there is increased flow 
of blood to the organ engaged ; and therefore during the 
process of digestion the organs engaged in the process 
have an increased amount of blood in them that should 
not be drawn away by setting up action in some other 
part of the system. It is exceedingly unwise therefore, 
for parents to drive their children to their books, or put 
them to any active labor as soon as they are through 
eating, as such a proceeding would be not only a waste 
of time, but a positive hindrance to development by in- 
terfering with the proper digestion of the food. 

Mrs. Chillion B. Allen, M. D., uses this language in 
Herald of Health for July, 1879: " It is true that de- 
struction and renewal of atoms is taking place continual- 
ly. We die each moment and are each moment re- 
newed ; but during labor, waste exceeds repair, and the 
true balance is only maintained by adequate rest. Fa- 
tigue is caused by an accumulation of effete matter in 
the system, and it is the replacing of this worn-out ma- 
terial by new, that gives us the feeling of refreshment 
after rest or sleep. Idleness tends to deterioration by 
permitting the primary cells to live too long, and thus 
creating no demand for the new material which infuses 
vigor and elasticity into the system. In truth we ought 
neither to wear out by overwork, nor rust out by con- 
stant idleness. But who are they who rust among our 
ambitious, energetic, over-nervous people? Those 
whose work is not of a useful kind are busy at some- 
thing ; too busy to allow themselves needed rest ; too 



Human DcvclopDuiit aiid Progress. 75 

busy in fashionable dissipations ; too busy in striving 
to gratify unholy ambitions ; too busy in endeavor to 
shine more gorgeously than their neighbors. It is fric- 
tion that is destroying them. In unworthy pursuits they 
are using up the costly flesh and blood, and enervating 
the still more precious heart and soul, refusing to grant 
to themselves the re-creative power of rest. " 

Then do not refuse the needed rest to children during 
the period of their growth and development ; for their 
systems must not only renew what has been used up in 
physical or mental exercise, but all the tissues of their 
bodies must enlarge and grow. Let the period of rest 
then be just as regularly provided for as the period of 
exercise, or healthy and adequate development cannot 
be secured. 

How often it is that parents neglect this matter of 
needed rest for their children, and with the teachers, 
urge them forward in their studies, looking upon every 
moment of time spent in quiet rest as completely lost. 
The consequences of such a course must prove most 
disastrous to the future well being of the child ; and it 
cannot make as rapid or satisfactory progress as it would 
if the physiological laws were observed and the hour of 
study alternated with sufficient time for rest and re- 
cuperation. 

It is a terrible thing to run counter to the true phys- 
iological laws of development ; and good results cannot 
be accomphshed in opposition to nature's plans. No 
higher development can be reached by any system of 
forcing that can be devised. The Heavenly Parent will 
no more tolerate rebellion against the laws of physical 
development than he will against those He has instituted 
for man's moral government. And yet how often we find 



'J^ Human Development and Progress. 

christian parents who give no heed to the physiological 
laws of development, but ask the Heavenly Parent to 
preserve their children in health, and keep them in vir- 
tue's ways. How often such parents pray that their 
children be kept out of the reach of temptation, and at 
the same time so manage their household as to im- 
plant in them the most ungovernable appetites and pas- 
sions, and when these appetites and passions crop out 
in vicious actions, they mourn over the depravity of 
human nature. How much more rational it would be 
to raise their children in harmony with the laws of 
development, and then there would be but little moral 
depravity of which to complain. 



CHAPTER VI. 



The Bones of the Body — How Developed — The Chaiiire Effected in 
the Bones b}^ Age — The Teeth a part of the Bony Skeleton — Two 
sets of Teeth — Nun:iber of Milk and Permanent Teeth — Rules for 
the Preservation of the Teeth. 

LET US now examine the bony skeleton, and enquire 
-^ into its formation and use in the human economy. 
And here, as everywhere else in the domain of nature, we 
will find wonderful fitness and adaptation to the purpo- 
ses intended, with the greatest simplicity of construc- 
tion and arrangement. The bones of the human body 
number in all, two hundred and forty, including the 
permanent teeth, which are thirty-two in number. 

The use of the bony skeleton, is to enable the indi- 
vidual to preserve the erect position, and by means of 
the joints to allow the freest possible movements of 
different parts of the body, and also for the purpose of 
protecting important internal organs from injury. For 
example, we find the citadel of the mental and moral 
faculties, the brain, encased in a bony covering which 
serves as an admirable protection against the ordinary 
source of accident or harm, and yet does not render it 
impregnable against violent blows or powerful forces of 
any kind. 

The heart and lungs are also enclosed within the 
chest-walls, which is made up of the ribs on each side, 



yS HuDimi DcvelopDioit and Progress. 

a portion of the spinal column behind, and the sternum 
or breast-bone in front. 

The peculiarity in the construction of the bones is, 
that while they are very strong, they add but little to 
the weight of the body, and by means of the joints, 
admit of perfect freedorri of motion. The entire bony 
skeleton, with its connections, is made up of fcur'differ- 
ent structures or tissues, which are called bone, cartil- 
age, ligaments, and sinovial membranes. The bone is 
hard and firm, to give sufficient stiffness to the frame. 
The connecting ends of the bones are lined with a 
gristly substance called cartilage, which serves as a sort 
of elastic cushion, and which protects the body and its 
enclosed organs from injury in walking, leaping, and 
sudden jars of all kinds. 

The ligaments are necessary to attach and hold the 
different bones together, and yet by their peculiar ar- 
rangement, to allow the necessary movement of the dif- 
ferent bones upon each other ; while the sinovial mem- 
brane, which is a complete shut sack, secretes and holds 
an oily fluid in between the ends of the bones in all the 
joints, to lubricate the parts and prevent friction or 
irritation by the movements of the joints. In the 
knee joints this membranous sack is quite large, coming 
up above the knee in folds, and this secretes a large 
amount of sinovia or joint water. Wherever the sino- 
vial membrane is injured by accident or otherwise, and 
especially if opened so as to let the joint-water escape, 
and the air get into the joints, severe inflammation is sure 
to be the result, and the joint is almost certain to be 
left stiffened or immovable. 

The bones are inclosed with a very thin membrane 
called periosteum, and if the membrane extends over 



Human Dcvclopnuut and Progress. 79 

the cartilage on the ends of the bones, it is then called 
perichondrium. This thin membrane is well supplied 
with nerves and capillary blood tubes, and whenever 
injured or inflamed, is extremely painful. This mem- 
brane follows the nutritious canals that run everywhere 
into the bones, and it lines the central and medullary 
canals in the bones, as well as their outer surface. 
These central canals are filled with a fatty substance 
called marrow, and which is found by microsopical ex- 
amination, to be oil enclosed in nucleated cells. The 
use of the marrow of the bones, is to deaden the effect 
of sudden jars, and perhaps to furnish heat producing 
material when the food supply runs short, or when the 
digestive power fails to furnish the system with sufficient 
nutrition. 

The bones are formed of two kinds of material ; one 
of which is a spongy, gelatinous substance, the other 
a compact earthy material, consisting largely of phos- 
phate of lime, with smaller quantities of carbonate of 
lime, phosphate of magnesia, phosphate of ammonia, ox- 
ide of iron, manganese, and traces of alumina and 
silica. The quantity of these earthy matters that exist 
in bones, varies in the different bones, and in different 
parts of the same bones ; being greatest in the shafts of 
the long bones from infancy to old age; hence the bones 
of old persons are much more brittle than are those of 
the young, and much more difficult to become united 
when broken. The bones of young children when bro- 
ken, very soon unite again, if the ends are properly 
adjusted and kept immovable, the gelatinous structures 
soon knitting together. 

In the chapter on the respiratory apparatus, the fact 
was mentioned that in order to secure perfect respira- 



8o Unman Development and Progress. 

tion it was necessary that the lungs should be placed in 
an air-tight box, the dimensions of which could be en- 
larged or contracted as the air was drawn into the lungs, 
or forced out. Now see how beautifully this condition 
is secured by the arrangement of the chest walls which 
make up the walls of the " box " that inclose the lungs. 
If we will examine the ribs (twelve in number) in the 
human skeleton, which make up most of the walls 
of this "box," we find them attached to the sternum 
or breast-bone in front, by long curved cartilages, soft 
and flexible enough to allow of considerable movement. 
Behind, each rib is attached by a slight movable joint to 
the bones of the spinal column at their points of union 
with each other. These ribs, placed one above another 
on each side, and curving around the lungs and heart, 
inclining downward and forward from their attachment 
to the spine — as the lungs expand, the front or sternal 
end of the ribs are elevated by the bending of their 
long and flexible cartilages, which movement greatly 
increases the capacity of the " box." This elevation of 
the ribs is brought about by the peculiar arrangement 
of the muscles, over and between the ribs, the contrac- 
tion of which raises the chest walls in front, and thus 
increases the capacity of the chest ; and by another set 
of muscles, the walls are brought back to their original 
position. By this arrangement, no vacuum exists in 
the chest at any time, but the movements of the chest 
walls give ample room for the ingress of sufficient air 
to completely oxydize the blood, provided the move- 
ments of the walls are not interfered with by the cloth- 
ing. Now, the compression of the chest walls by the 
clothing, not only injures the muscular structure of 
these walls, but the cramping of the movements of the 



Ilnvian Dci'clopincut and Pro<rfess. 8 1 

cartilages of the ribs soon destroys their flexibiHty ; and 
as remarked of the muscular structure, when the pressure 
is removed, full inspirations cannot take place ; conse- 
quently the respiratory power is thus permanently injured. 
Whenever a mother conaes to see the injury she 
has inflicted upon herself, or her. daughters, by thus 
destroying the beautiful mechanism of the human frame, 
the sooner she sets about repairing the mischief she has 
done, the better it will be for all concerned. This can 
only be accomplished by removing everything that can 
interfere with the freest movements of the chest walls ; 
and the daih' practice of raising the hands above the 
head, and taking in the fullest inspiration possible, 
repeating the operation several times. By this means 
the muscular structure may be repaired, and the flexi- 
biHty of the cartilages restored, provided all other hy- 
gienic conditions are carried out in the life. 

But this compression of the chest walls is not delayed 
by mothers until their daughters become grown ; but 
infants and young misses are subjected to the cruel tor- 
ture — not of corsets, but of tight bandaging around the 
chest. And it is during the growth and development 
of the child, that the most serious mischief is often done. 
Then let all mothers discard the pernicious practice of 
fastening any of the clothing of the children around the 
chest, but let all the clothing of growing children be 
suspended from the shoulders, leaving the chest walls 
free to expand to their greatest capacity. Remember, 
dear mother, that by no artificial means can you im- 
prove upon the handiwork of the Great Architect, in 
the make up of the "human form divine; " and that 
all efforts in that direction is but inflicting lasting injury 
upon your helpless offspring. 

12 



82 Human Developviejit and Progress. 

Let us now turn our attention to the beautiful adap- 
tation of means to an end, as shown in the arrangement of 
the bones of the spinal column. These are thirty- two 
in number ; the seven upper ones are called cervical 
vertebrae, the twelve next below are the dorsal, the five 
below these the lumbar, the five next below and to 
which the hip bones are attached are the sacral, and the 
three lowest ones the coxcygeal bones. The five sacral 
bones are consolidated and have no movable joints, 
between them, while the coxcygeal bones are mere 
rudiments of vertebrae. 

The upper of the cervical vertebrae is called the atlas, 
as it supports the head ; the second one is the axis, 
as upon it the head rotates. The twenty-two below 
the axis are all very similar, only increasing in size from 
above downwards ; and the broad sacral bones afford 
firm attachments for the other bones of the pelvis. 

The vertebrae (or bones of the back) are cylindrical 
blocks of bone with a cavity within for safe protection of 
the spinal marrow, and with spinal processes passing back- 
wards and slightly downwards for the attachment of the 
muscles that regulate the movements of the spinal col- 
umn. The vertebrae have a thick cartilaginous cushion 
between them to prevent injury from jars, and to give 
freedom to the various movements of the spinal column. 
This cartilaginous substance is very firm and very elastic, 
so as to admit the freest movements of the body in 
any direction, either forward, backward, and to either 
side, and the form and elasticity of the cushion is such 
that it helps restore the body to the erect position again. 

This bony column, extending from the head which it 
supports, to the bottom of the pelvis, when the body is 
erect, appears perfectly straight if viewed from behind 



Human Dcvclopnuiit a) id Progress. 8 



or directly in front, but upon a side view is found to 
pass nearly straight in the neck, when it gently curves 
backward to make room for the organs of the chest and 
abdomen, after which it comes forward again for the at- 
tachment of the pelvic bones ; and now the sacral bones 
bend backward to give room for the pelvic organs, when 
the coxcygeal bones again curve forward to give sup- 
port to the contained organs. 

As continued pressure upon the elastic cushions be- 
tween the vertebrae by standing too long in the erect 
ppsition tends to make them thinner, it is found 
that persons who are much on their feet through the 
day, are not as tall at night as in the morning. Horse- 
back riding produces a similar effect as does sitting 
erect for a long time, or dancing. And as the cartilag- 
inous cushions are softer and more yielding in young 
children, than in adults or old persons, parents must be 
careful not to keep their children very long in the erect 
position, either standing or resting; but they should be 
allowed to change their positions as often as they desire, 
or permanent deformity may be produced. 

The restlessness of children, that parents so frequent- 
ly complain of, is really an instinctive desire to escape 
this violation of a physiological law, and instead of be- 
ing reproved by parents, it should be allowed the freest 
latitude, and the child permitted to take whatever posi- 
tion it prefers, and to change it as often as desired. 

" When a child, more particulary a youth, is grow- 
ing rapidly, especially if of light complexion, the car- 
tilages do not as rapidly become firm, nor ought they 
to sustain the spinal column erect under those circum- 
stances ; they will readily yield, and the column appear 
carried forward about the shoulders. If it does not 



84 JIuniaiL Drvclopmcut and Progress. 

curve laterally, no matter (it seldom will unless badly 
treated) ; as soon as the child is older and the cartilage 
hardened, erectness will be regained, if the clothing is 
not allowed to constrict, nor any one position to fatigue 
him. He should also have much time for reclining re- 
pose. If, on the other hand, the clothing is tight, and 
apparatus worn or injunctions laid down to mamtain 
one position, the ciirtilages will be sure to yield upon 
the sides, and unfortunate lateral curvatures will result, 
that will be with great difficulty, if at all corrected. 
Nature, Nature, Nature, give Nature play, and she will 
reward the deference with litheness of motion, graceful 
elasticity, and the thousand blessings she is in the habit 
of bestowing upon her followers.'"*' 

Now it must be recollected that the material for the 
growth and development of the bones and cartilages 
must be supplied by the blood, and that the blood can 
only furnish what the food supplies ; it can be seen at 
once that the food must contain all the elements neces- 
sary for the building up of all the tissues of the organ- 
ism, or some part of it must suffer for lack of proper 
nourishment. And this fact should appeal especially 
to mothers, who very frequently through want of prop- 
er information, live on foods themselves that do not 
contain all the material the human organism requires ; 
and thus the foundation is laid for defective organiza- 
tion in their children even before birth. 

Every mother must certainly know that it is the f<^od 
.she furnishes her own system that is to sustain and 
develop the delicate organism of her child before birth 
and as long as it depends upon her breast for sustenance ; 

••• Dr. I/.iinbcn, Human Aniilomy, Physiology aiid Hygiene. 



Ilm/ian Dcvclopuioit and Progress. S5 

and this is the time that so frequently is laid the founda- 
tions for defective organizations of children. We have 
found that a great proportion of the bony structure is 
made up of mineral substances elaborated in the veg- 
etable organism, as phosphate of lime, carbonate of 
lime, phosphate of magnesia and ammonia of iron, etc., 
and it is important for mothers to know what class of 
foods furnish these necessary mineral substances in 
suitable condition for the growth and development of 
the human organism ; and this class of foods she should 
bountifully partake of, especially while the growth and 
development of her darling child is dependent entirely 
upon the nourishment her system affords. 

The cereal grains, as wheat, oats and barley, contain 
everything the human organism requires in greater 
perfection than any other class of foods ; hence these 
should constitute a great portion of the mother's diet 
during the period her child is dependent upon her for 
sustenance. Graham bread, cracked or crushed wheat 
boiled, oat meal gruel or mush, with plenty of good ripe 
fruits, should constitute the principal food of mothers 
during this important period, as it will abundantly sus- 
tain their own systems and that of their babes. 

Let me now direct the attention of the reader to the 
development of the teeth and how to preserve them to 
the end of life, as the loss of the teeth in early life is 
certainly a great misfortune ; and if the physiological 
laws were strictly adhered to, such a misfortune would 
never occur. The infant shows its first teeth at about 
six months of age usually, and its milk teeth continue 
to make their appearance to about seven years of age, 
at which time it will have ten in each jaw. This time 
of getting the first teeth is a very critical period in the 



S6 Human Development and Progress. 

life of the child, and if disease attack it during this time, 
the parents are sure to ascribe the ailment to the process 
of teething ; when if the true physiological laws are carried 
out in the life of the child, teething will cause no more 
disturbance to the health of the little being than any 
other natural process of development. 

How important it is then, that parents may under- 
stand the physiological laws and direct the lives of their 
children in harmony with them, in order that they may 
be saved from so much suffering and risk. But it 
seems so much easier for us all to look for the causes 
of disease in the natural processes of life over which we 
have no control, rather than to take the blame to our- 
selves and seek for these causes in the bad air of apart- 
ments, the imperfect foods and vicious clothing that are 
really the mischievous agents. 

The milk teeth will then be retained up to the seventh 
year, when the permanent teeth begin to make their 
appearance, and continue to develop until the age of 
puberty or even later. 

The milk teeth are shed by the gradual absorption of 
the mineral substance from their roots and the perma- 
nent teeth start just beneath them ; and as development 
goes on in them the provisional teeth are pushed out 
and replaced by the permanent ones. 

The structure of the teeth consists of the same gela- 
tinous substance and earthy matter as the other bones 
of the body, and the crown of the tooth is made up of 
a hard horny substance called enamel. The permanent 
teeth are thirty-two in number, sixteen in each jaw, and 
these consist of four incisor, two canine, four bicusped 
and six molar. 

The teeth inclose a vascular and nervous pulp in the 



Human Development and Progress. cS/ 

central cavity, and when the outer surface of the tooth 
decays from improper management, then the individ- 
ual experiences that horror of horrors known as tooth- 
ache, a malady the poet Burns immortalized in verse. 

The intended purpose of the teeth is evidently for 
grinding and triturating the food ; and from their pe- 
culiar shaped arrangement in the jaws in the different 
classes of animals that live upon different kinds of food, 
naturalists have inferred what kinds of food are natural 
to man ; and as man possesses canine teeth, as does all 
the carnivora or flesh eating animals, the conclusion 
has been drawn that flesh foods are therefore natural 
for man. But when a full investigation of the arrange- 
ment of the teeth is made and also of the muscles of the 
jaws, this position hardly seems tenable. For example ; 
we find the canine teeth of the dog and other canivora 
that live entirely upon flesh to be longer than the other 
teeth and to be placed only in the upper jaw, the corres- 
ponding space in the lower jaw being entirely destitute 
of teeth. Hence the canines in the carnivora were evi- 
dently intended for transfixing and holding the food ; 
all their teeth and the arrangement of the muscles 
of their jaws gives them special adaptation to the process 
of tearing their food, while man's teeth and jaws are 
evidently arranged for mastication and grinding the 
food. Then the teeth cannot be brought forward as 
evidence to sustain the use of animal flesh as food for 
man. 

Then if the arrangement and construction of the teeth 
and jaws, force the conviction upon us that they were 
intended for mastication and grinding the food, is 
not this " confirmation strong as holy writ" that man's 
food should be sohd and not Hquid ? And does not this 



88 Ihiniaii Development and Progress. 

establish another fact : that if the teeth aje to be pre-' 
served to the end of Hfe, they must be used in the way 
that nature intended? We know that if the muscles be 
left unused, they undergo partial death and become unfit 
for use ; and so it is with any part of the body — leave it 
unused, or perverted from its norrnal use, and it soon 
shows evidence of decay. 

To preserve the teeth, they must be daily used 
for the mastication of such solid substance as nature in- 
tended for man's food ; and then if they are kept scru- 
pulously clean, and no strong acids used with the foods 
to destroy the delicate enamel, or any substances very 
hot or very cold to crack them, no wail of toothache will 
ever be heard, and the dentist's occupation will be gone 
forever. 

As to the best means for keeping the teeth clean, a 
soft tooth brush should be used immediately after eat- 
ing, and this should be followed by the use of the tooth- 
pick, in order that all substances may be removed from 
between the teeth, and no particle of food left to under- 
go acid fermentation and thus bring on decay. Let 
this course be carried out from the first appearance of 
the permanent teeth to the end of life, and the second 
set of teeth will then be in deed and in truth pervianent, 
and will go down to the grave with the owner. 

If this course be faithfully carried out from the first 
appearance of the permanent teeth, there will be no need 
of dentifrices, and Sozodont may be left upon the 
Apothecaries' shelves. 



CHAPTER VII. 



The Organs of Digestion and their Action — Different Organs for 
Digestion of Different Classes of Foods — Mastication Necessary 
to Perfect Digestion —Stomach Digestion — Intestinal Digestion 
— Experiments on Dogs in Relation to Digestion — Prof. Dalton 
on Digestion — Tracing the Digested Substances Through the 
System. 

LET us now turn our attention to the process of di- 
gestion, and the organs concerned in it. The 
digestion of food in its widest sense, is quite a compH- 
cated process, beginning with the mastication or chew- 
ing of food, and ending with its assimilation and 
conversion into tissue. The digestory apparatus consists 
of the digestory canal, and its appendages ; the former 
of which, consists of mouth, pharynx, sesophagus, stom- 
ach and intestines ; while the latter consists of the 
teeth, salivary glands, glands of the stomach, pancreas, 
or sweet-bread, liver and intestinal glands. 

The first work of digestion, of course, takes place in 
the mouth, and consists in thorough mastication or 
chewing of the food ; and this implies that after the 
period of teething, the food shall be solid, in order that 
it may be acted on by these organs. During the pro- 
cess of chewing, the salivary glands, situated on each 
side of the jaws, are pouring out their secretions of saliva 
into the mouth, and the food thus becomes inti- 

13 



go Human Development and Progress. 

mately mixed with this fluid; and without this thorough 
mixture of the masticated food with the saHva, perfect 
digestion cannot take place. In fact, the saccharine and 
starchy portions of the food are partly digested by the 
saliva alone, and some portion of it is taken up directly 
by the absorbents of the mouth, without passing into 
the stomach at all. But with persons who take the 
most of their food in a fluid state, it is swallowed al- 
most as quickly as taken into the mouth, and the mix- 
ture with the saliva is prevented, and imperfect diges- 
tion is the consequence. 

It is true the infant, before teething, necessarily takes 
its food in a liquid state, directly from the mother's 
breast, but it gets it so slowly that it becomes well 
mixed with the small amount of saliva before it is swal- 
lowed. In fact, the infant may be said to eat the milk 
it draws from its mother's breast, and not drink it as 
adults do their food who use coffee and tea with it. And 
then the milk diet of the infant contains no starch and 
but little sugar ; and as these substances are the only 
class of food material acted on by the saliva, as might 
be expected the salivary glands of the infant are very 
small, and secrete but a small amount of saliva ; but as 
the child gets its teeth, the salivary glands grow very 
rapidly, and by the time it is prepared to eat solid food, 
these glands are quite large, and secrete a sufficient 
amount of saliva to moisten all its food, if sufficient 
time is taken to masticate it thoroughly. 

No doubt a great portion of the indigestion that takes 
place in infants deprived of their mother's milk, pro- 
ceeds from the imperfect manner of feeding them ; the 
artificial nipple on the bottle allowing the milk to flow 
too rapidly ; so the little one is compelled to swallow it 



Huvian Devclopnioit and Progress. 91 

as fast as it enters the mouth ; and thus its admixture 
with the Httle saHva secreted is prevented, and imper- 
fect digestion results. 

With adults who have formed the habit of drinking 
large quantities of fluid during their meals, digestion is 
perhaps never perfectly performed ; the food being 
swallowed before it is well mixed with the saliva, or 
even before it is properly masticated. The evil that 
results from this imperfect mastication not only inter- 
feres with the perfect digestion of the food, but the 
teeth are actually injured through want of exercise. 

"Work or die," is a law of all living organisms! and 
the teeth are no exception to this universal rule; and here, 
as elsewhere, it is useless to attempt to evade the law 
and escape the penalty. The teeth were evidently in- 
tended to remain perfect'during the life of the individual; 
and the very fact that we are becoming a nation of 
toothless people, is evidence that the physiological laws 
are constantly abused. And nowhere else is there more 
frequent and injurious violations of physiological law 
than in the habit of drinking the food instead of eat- 
ing it. 

Let all the food required by the human organism be 
served in solid form, properly prepared, and then thor- 
oughly masticated, and let all strong acids and hot and 
very cold drinks be avoided, and there is no question 
but the teeth will last during the life-time of the indi- 
vidual, without causing any pain or discomfort. 

The m.astication of the food will always afford pleasur- 
able sensations, as well as serve useful purposes, if done 
in conformity to physiological law ; and children should 
be early impressed with its importance, so that when 
they arrive at maturity they will not be compelled to 



92 Human Development and Progress. 

suffer the consequences of its neglect. It is always 
much more difficult to reform bad habits than it is to 
form correct ones in the beginning of life; and parents 
should be careful that their children's habits are all 
formed in harmony with physiological laws. 

Now, supposing the food is perfectly masticated and 
moistened with saliva, and swallowed into the stomach, 
then begins the next process in the work of digestion. 
This consists essentially in the liquifaction of the gluti- 
nous or albuminoid portions of the food, and is brought 
about by the solvent action of the liquid mass poured 
into the stomach from the little glands, or tubules, found 
in its walls. If we were to examine these glands with 
a microscope, we would find the bottom of the same 
lined with innumerable little nucleated cells, and on the 
outside of the gland a network of little capillary blood- 
tubes, and from the blood in these little tubes the cells 
select the material which constitutes the digestive fluid, 
and pours it into the stomach in great abundance while 
there is any food remaining in the stomach undigested. 
According to experiments made by Prof. Dalton, no 
less than thirteen pints of this digestive fluid is required 
, to digest the amount of albuminous foods eaten every 
day by a healthy adult man. This would seem incredi- 
ble were not the fact ascertained that as soon as the 
digestive fluid has dissolved its full complement of food, 
it is immediately re-absorbed and again enters the circu- 
lation along with the alimentary substances it has dis- 
solved. Thus the secretion and re-absorption of the 
digestive fluid goes on simultaneously, and the fluids 
which the blood loses by one process are incessantly 
restored to it by the other. By this means there is no 
great accumulation of the digestive fluid at any one 



Human Development and Progress. 93 

time in the stomach, and the blood is all the time gain- 
ing in nutritive properties by the nutritive substances 
thus added to it from the digested food. 

But while this digestive fluid secreted by the glands 
of the stomach liquifies the albuminoid portions of the 
food, it does not effect the amyloid portions — the sugar, 
starch and fat. These pass on through the stomach un- 
changed, except what change the saliva had effected, and 
they now gradually pass into the small intestines along 
with the partially digested albuminoids, where the entire 
mass comes in contact with the secretion of the glands 
of the intestines arid of the pancreas. And while the 
digestive fluid of the stomach is acid, that of the pan- 
creas and intestines is as distinctly alkaline. 

If the microscope be brought to bear upon the ex- 
amination of the small intestines, two sets of glands will 
be observed : one kind very much resembling those 
found in the stomach, the other set being a cluster of 
glands around a common duct into which they pour 
their secretion, and which empties it into the intestine. 
The first named are the most numerous ; and these two 
sets of glands secrete a fluid substance that has the 
property of converting starch and starchy food into 
sugar, when it is soon taken up by the intestinal ab- 
sorbents and thrown into the circulation of the blood. 

We have now seen how all the foods are digested, ex- 
cept the fats and oils which so far remain unchanged. 
But in passing down the small intestine it comes in con- 
tact with the secretion of the pancreas, which is emptied 
into the intestine some distance below the stomach; and 
now the fatty and oily particles of the food break down 
and become emulsified and are thus brought into prop- 
er condition to be absorbed and thrown into the blood. 



94 Human Development and Progress. 

By experiments made upon living dogs, Prof. Dal- 
ton and others have been enabled to very correctly as- 
certain the whole process of digestion, and where and 
how the different steps in the process take place. The 
experiments consisted in making fistulous openings into 
the stomach and intestines at different points, and then 
after feeding the dogs, watch the process of digestion as 
it took place; and by extracting portions of the contents 
of the stomach and intestines through the fistulous open- 
ings, to chemically test what has been accomplished on 
the food by the time it had reached these different 
points. As this is a subject of absorbing interest to 
every intelligent mind. I will give the conclusions ar- 
rived at by Prof. Dalton in his own words : 

'*We find, then, that the digestion of the food is not 
a simple operation, but it is made up of several differ- 
ent processes, which commence successively in differ- 
ent portions of the alimentary canal. In the first place, 
the food is subjected in the mouth to the physical ope- 
rations of mastication and insalivation. Reduced to a 
soft pulp and mixed abundantly with the saliva, it pass- 
es, secondly into the stomach. Here it excites the 
secretion of the gastric juice, by the influence of which 
its chemical transformation and solution are commenced. 
If the meal consist wholly, or partially of muscular 
flesh, the first effect of the gastric juice is to dissolve the 
intervening cellular substance, by which the tissue is 
disintegrated and the muscular fibres separated from 
each other. Afterward the muscular fibres themselves 
become swollen and softened by the imbibition of the 
gastric fluid, and are finally disintegrated and liquified. 
In the small intestine, the pancreatic and intestinal 
juices convert the starchy ingredients of the food into 



HuDian Dri.'clop))icHt aud Progress. 95 

sugar, and break up the fatty matters into a fine emul- 
sion, by which they are converted into chyle. 

"Although the separate actions of these digestive fluids 
however, commence at different points of the alimentary 
canal, they afterward go on simultaneously in the small 
intestine ; and the changes that take place here, and 
which constitute the process of intestinal digestion, 
form at the same time one of the most important parts 
of the whole digestive function. 

"By examination from time to time, of the intestinal 
fluids, it at once becomes manifest that the action of 
the gastric juice, in the digestion of albuminoid sub- 
stances, is not confined to the starch, but continues 
after the food has passed into the intestine. About half 
an hour after the ingestion of a meal, the gastric juice 
begins to pass into the duodenum, where it may be rec- 
ognized by its strongly marked acidity. It has accord- 
ingly already dissolved some of the ingredients of the 
food while still in the stomach, and contains a certain 
quantity of albuminose in solution. It soon afterward, 
as it continues to pass into the duodenum, becomes min- 
gled with the debris of muscular fibres, fat resides, and 
oil drops ; substances which are easily recognizable 
under the microscope, and which produce a grayish 
turbidity in the fluid drawn from, the fistula. This turbid 
admixture grows constantly thicker from the second to 
the tenth or twelfth hour ; after which the intestinal 
fluids become less abundant, and finally dissappear 
almost entirely as the process of digestion comes to an end. 

'Tnthis way the digestion of the different ingredients 
of the food goes on in a continuous manner, from the 
stomach through the entire length of the small intes- 
tine. At the same time it results in the production of 



94 Human Development and Progress. 

By experiments made upon living dogs, Prof. Dal- 
ton and others have been enabled to very correctly as- 
certain the whole process of digestion, and where and 
how the different steps in the process take place. The 
experiments consisted in making fistulous openings into 
the stomach and intestines at different points, and then 
after feeding the dogs, watch the process of digestion as 
it took place; and by extracting portions of the contents 
of the stomach and intestines through the fistulous open- 
ings, to chemically test what has been accomplished on 
the food by the time it had reached these different 
points. As this is a subject of absorbing interest to 
every intelligent mind. I will give the conclusions ar- 
rived at by Prof. Dalton in his own words : 

'*We find, then, that the digestion of the food is not 
a simple operation, but it is made up of several differ- 
ent processes, which commence successively in differ- 
ent portions of the alimentary canal. In the first place, 
the food is subjected in the mouth to the physical ope- 
rations of mastication and insalivation. Reduced to a 
soft pulp and mixed abundantly with the saliva, it pass- 
es, secondly into the stomach. Here it excites the 
secretion of the gastric juice, by the influence of which 
its chemical transformation and solution are commenced. 
If the meal consist wholly, or partially of muscular 
flesh, the first effect of the gastric juice is to dissolve the 
intervening cellular substance, by which the tissue is 
disintegrated and the muscular fibres separated from 
each other. Afterward the muscular fibres themselves 
become swollen and softened by the imbibition of the 
gastric fluid, and are finally disintegrated and liquified. 
In the small intestine, the pancreatic and intestinal 
juices convert the starchy ingredients of the food into 



Hiiiuan Development and Progress. gy 

stances, called proximate principles. The carbon, oxy- 
gen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, and iron, and a 
portion of the phosphorus exist in the milk as albumen, 
and go to build up the tissues of the body. The 
remainder of the phosphorus, and the potassium, lime, 
sodium and chlorine, exist in the milk as chloride of 
sodium (table salt), phosphate of lime, phosphate of 
potassa, and phosphate of soda, all of which perform 
important offices in the human economy. 

The chloride of sodium, as before noticed, assists in 
the digestion of the food, by first being decomposed in 
the stomach, by which it is converted into hydrochloric 
acid, which forms part of the digestive fluid, and soda 
which is left free, and is necessary to the formation of 
bile in the liver. After the hydrochloric acid has per- 
formed its part in the digestion of the albuminose sub- 
stances in the stomach, and is passed along with the 
partially digested mass into the intestines where it 
comes in contact with the bile, it re-unites with a por- 
tion of the soda of the bile, and forms chloride of sodium 
again, when it passes into the blood and carries along 
with it all the products of digestion. Were there no 
table salt dissolved in the digested food, it perhaps 
could not get into the blood vessels at all, but by the 
great diffusibility of salt, it carries along with it the al- 
buminose substance with which it is associated. Hence 
we find all the fluids and solids of the body contain 
small portions of salt, and without it, various changes 
and metamorphoses that are constantly going on in the 
human organism could not take place. But if it be 
used to excess and too great an amount gets into the 
blood, there will be too rapid breaking down of the 
tissues and the waste matters will accumulate in the sys- 
U 



98 Hinnaii Dcvcloprncnt and Piogress. 

tern, or they will be thrown off by diarrhoea, or excessive 
perspiration, and the system will become enfeebled. 

All the other salts that are found in the milk are 
equally serviceable in the economy of life. The phos- 
phate of potassa assists in building up the red corpuscles 
of the blood which renew the muscular tissue, while 
the phosphate of soda assists in the removal of the used 
up material from the tissues which would otherwise 
accumulate in them. 

The phosphate of lime, of which the mother's milk 
contains a greater percentage than of any of the other 
salts, provided she has lived properly, is indispensable 
in the building of the bones, and also in all cell forma- 
tions ; and without the formation of cells no growth can 
take place anywhere, as it is through the agency of the 
simple cell and its nucleus that all growth is effected. 

Now let us trace the amyloid substances found in the 
mother's milk, the sugar and butter, or fat, and see what 
becomes of them after they have been thrown into the 
current of the blood. 

I presume there is no one but knows that a certain 
amount of heat is necessary in the human organism in 
order to preserve its life, but from what source the heat 
is derived is perhaps not so well understood. All 
chemical changes that take place in the human organism 
generate more or less heat, and a considerable portion 
of the heat of the body is no doubt the result of the 
friction caused by the circulation of the blood through 
the blood tubes, but there is no question but the oxyda- 
tion of the sugar in the blood produces body heat. 

In the introductory chapter it was remarked that 
oxygen was found in a free state only in the blood, and 
unless it was in the free state it was not in condition to 



Hiinimi Devclopiucnt and Progress. 99 

enter into new combinations ; so when the sugar is 
thrown into the current of the blood, coming in contact 
with the oxygen, a chemical action takes place, the 
sugar is broken down into the unorganized substances, 
carbonic acid and aqueous vapor, and heat is evolved. 
When the blood reaches the lungs again the carbonic 
acid and aqueous vapor are given off in the expired air, 
but the heat is diffused throughout the body. But not 
all the sugar taken into the system is disposed of in this 
way, as a portion of it is converted into fat during the 
process of digestion, and it is oxydized in the blood 
in that shape, when twice the amount of heat is evolved 
as by the oxydation of sugar. 

Thus we see that fat serves the same purpose in 
the economy of life as the amyloid substances ; 
that is, the evolution of heat by its oxydation in the 
blood, or after it is deposited in the tissues. For that 
purpose it exceeds all other proximate principles used 
as food, producing twice as much heat as sugar, three 
times as much as bread, and four or five times as much 
as flesh foods. As heat is essentially necessary for the 
growth of the body, the mother's milk that is deficient 
in butter, will not sufficiently nourish the child, although 
the butter is not used in the building up of the tissues 
of the body, but is simply deposited in the tissues 
without being recognized as a part of the structure. 

I have now endeavored to point out what becomes of 
the various substances taken into the human economy 
as food ; and certainly no one can fail to see the neces- 
sity of the food supplying all these substances being in 
proper form and of sufficient quantity to satisfy all the 
demands of the system. 

And now, dear mothers, let me say a few words 



100 Hiiman Development and Progress. 

especially to you. For the first years of existence of 
your precious babe, its entire subsistence and develop- 
ment is dependent upon you. During its pre-natal ex- 
istence and for more than a year after its birth, every 
act of yours, makes its impress upon your helpless off- 
spring. If you have a good constitution, you can live dur- 
ing this period, so as to lay the foundations of a character 
in your child which may be developed into a beautiful and 
noble life ; or you may impress upon it, influences that 
will stamp it out for perdition. Nor will this be a mere 
chance or accidental result ; but every act of yours will 
yield its legitimate results upon your child. An evil, 
fretful temper manifested by you during this period will 
impress its baneful effects upon the organism of your 
child that will cling to it through life. And so a cheer- 
ful, happy, buoyant frame of mind on your part will 
bring forth a golden harvest of sweet temper in the after 
life of the precious immortal placed in your keeping. 

If you fail to keep your own system properly supplied 
with all the proximate principles it requires, either by 
eating imperfect foods, or through want of proper ex- 
ercise, or needed rest, the lacking principles will be 
more seriously felt by your off-spring than by yourself, 
and it will be born into an inheritance of pain and suf- 
fering; while, if you keep your system in the best 
state of physical, mental and moral health it is possible 
to attain, you give to your child all the advantages of 
a healthy and happy organization. This time of life is 
too important to the child's future, to suffer evil inflences 
of any kind to gain the ascendency and lay the founda- 
tions of future misery and unhappiness. 



J 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Foods and Their Uses in the Human Economj^ — Definition of Food 
— Organized Substances Onl^- Can Be Used as Foods — These of 
Vesetable Origin — How Vegetables Convert Mineral Substances 
Into Organic Compounds — All Foods Divided Into Two Classes 
— The Wheat Grain a Perfect Food — The Composition of the 
Whole Wheat Grain and the Fine Flour Compared— Composition 
of the Human Bodj- — Importance of ihe Proximate Principles 
Used as Food Containing Mineral Substances — Waste Matter 
Discharged From the Bodj^ — Foods for Children — Inheritance. 

THE subject of food is so extensive, and so very 
important in all its bearings upon human develop- 
ment, that it demands the most careful study of every 
one who desires to understand the workings of his own 
system, and how he may enlarge his capabilities and 
powers. But to get at the full understanding of the 
subject, it will be necessary to have clear ideas of what 
is meant when we talk of foods, as well as the various 
processes concerned in their digestion and assimilation, 
and their fitness to become a part of the living or- 
ganism. 

Different authors have given various definitions to the 
term foods ; but it will answer every purpose to define 
foods as substances which when taken into the human 
organism furnish material to build up the structures of 
the body, and to rebuild them when consumed in the 
vital processes of life. As the human organism cannot 



10 2 Hiinia)! Dcvelopiueiit and Progress. 

convert any unorganized substance into its own tissues, 
it is necessary that all foods shall have an organized 
structure, and this structural organization is first brought 
about in the vegetable. The vegetable alone has the 
power of taking certain unorganized substances as car- 
bonic acid, water and ammonia, and by the aid of sun- 
light, and the green coloring matter in their leaves, of 
tearing these substances to pieces — that is, decomposing 
them, and building up new compounds of their ele- 
ments, having a definite organized structure. If we 
will look very closely into the changes that have been 
wrought by the vegetable, we will find that out of 
these simple unorganized substances, carbonic acid, 
water and ammonia, and what it takes from the soil, it 
builds up most of the organized substances that consti- 
tute man's food. Now while this may seem inexplica- 
ble at first view, a closer insight into the chemical 
composition of these substances and the new compounds 
formed by the vegetable will make it plain enough. 

The carbonic acid is made up of two parts of oxygen, 
which, as before explained, is a gas, and one part of 
carbon, a solid substance which exists nearly pure in char- 
coal. These two substances, when chemically united in 
the proportions named, form carbonic acid, and which 
chemists represent thus: CO^; therefore when that 
symbol is found, carbonic acid is meant. This carbonic 
acid exists as a gas also, but is heavier than oxygen or 
the air. Water is of course familiar to everyone, but 
its chemical composition may not be so well understood. 
It is made up of two equivalents of hydrogen, the 
lightest of all gases, and one of oxygen. These two 
gases, chemically united in the proportions named, con- 
stitutes water, which is represented by H o O. 



I 



I In mail nc:'i'lop)iicnt aiui rrogrcss. 103 

Ammc^nia is made up of three parts of h)'dr()^en and 
one of nitrogen, which is also a gas, when not chemi- 
cally united to any other substance. The symbol of 
ammonia is therefore H-.N, and while it is a heavy 
mineral substance it is made up of two very light gases. 

Now we have found that the three compounds used as 
food by the vegetable contain but four different ele- 
mentary substances, viz.: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and 
nitrogen ; and all other substances found in vegetables 
are extracted from the soil by the roots. The sub- 
stances so taken by the vegetable and built up with the 
four substances named above into various proximate 
principles are: phosphorus, sulphur, iron, calcium, potas- 
sium, sodium, magnesium, and minute quantities of 
chlorine, fluorine and silicon. But the great bulk of all 
vegetable products, is made up of the four elementary 
substances taken from the carbonic acid, water and am- 
monia, and they constitute the principal food of all 
plants and vegetables. 

The new organic compounds formed by the vegetable 
from these three substances, together with what it 
extracts from the soil, are divided into two great classes : 
the one called amyloid and the other albuminoid — the 
first of which contains only carbon, hydrogen and 
oxygen, while the albuminoids all contain nitrogen in 
addition to the carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. In the 
amyloid class are found sugar, starch, dextrine, glucose ; 
and the vegetable fats and oils have a similar composition, 
being made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen only. 

Now while these amyloid foods answer useful pur- 
poses in the human economy, they do not, as such, 
help to build up any of the tissues of the human body, 
as all the tissues contain nitrogen. Then it is to the 



104 Himiaii Development and Progress. 

second class, the albuminoids, that we are to look for 
the material to build up all the tissues of the body ; and 
many of these albuminoids, elaborated by the vegetable, 
have very nearly the same chemical composition as 
man's flesh, and are readily converted into it when eaten 
and acted on by the digestive and assimilative organs. 
For example, we find the wheat grain to contain every 
elementary substance that exists in the human organism ; 
and these are arranged into all the organic compounds 
of both classes that man requires for food. 

If we will take a thin slice of a grain of wheat and 
place on the field of a microscope, we will find a very 
curious and wonderful arrangement of its different parts. 
The outer layers are made up largely of albuminose, 
and contain carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phos- 
phorus, sulphur, calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, 
chlorine and silicon, while the heart of the grain consists 
of starch cells, enclosed in an albuminose cell-wall. The 
barley and oat grains, when deprived of their husks, are 
closely allied to the wheat grain in chemical composi- 
tion ; and these three cereals, when properly prepared 
and used, constitute the best food substances known to 
man, and are largely used in all civilized countries. 
But the modern method of treating the wheat grain 
(that of grinding and bolting) separates the greater 
portion of the albuminoid substance, or gluten, from 
the fine flour and leaves but little except starch, and 
the albuminose cell-walls that contain the starch. There- 
fore, foods made of the fine white flour have but little 
nutritive properties, and cannot in any sense be consid- 
ered the staff of life; and it becomes essentially neces- 
sary that all nations return to the ancient method, and 
use the entire product of the wheat, or rejecting the 



IIuuuDi DLVclopmoit and Progress. 



105 



ver\' thin coating of silica that encases the grain for the 
protection of the nutritive substances against the 
weather. This thin coating of silfca is very difficult to 
separate from the gluten, and in the grinding and bolt- 
ing, the greater part of both fail to pass through the 
bolting cloth, and they are therefore separated from the 
fine flour, and constitute the bran and shorts. 

Now, as the fine white flour, in all the various articles 
in which it is made, constitutes so large a portion of 
the food of man in all civilized countries, it is impor- 
tant that the people should have a full understanding of 
all the deficiencies. I will therefore g^ve the chemical 
composition of the fine white flour, and of the whole 
wheat flour as stated by reliable authority, in order that 
the values of each may be compared. The composition 
then, in 1,000 parts of substances, is of 



In whole grains. 
In fine flour 










a 






a 


3 






^ 


.0 


.2 


s 

s 


S 

C3 






2. 


S 


etS 


i. 


-^ 


tS 


c 







a 


^ 


W 


< 


^ 




m 





Oh 


3 


148 


483 


130 


5.5 


0.6 


0.6 


2,2 


8.2 


1.5 


136 


655 


110 


1.5 


0.1 


0.1 


0.3 


2.1 


0.0 



0.3 

0.0 



Thus we can see that the fine flour has lo.st very ma- 
terially of the life-giving principles that gives to wheat 
its great value as a food for man. 

According to Prof. Edward Smith, of London, the 
finest white flour has lost every trace of the skin of the 
wheat, and is truly the kernel only. It is therefore 
composed of the starch in the starch cells, and of the 
glutinous matters in the cell walls and intervening struc- 
tures, with certain mineral matters which are associated 



15 



I06 Ihunaii Development and Progress. 

with them. So far as starchy or heat-giving matter is 
concerned, the white flour is superior to any other kind ; 
but the whole wheat flour possesses a much greater pro- 
portion of gluten, and other nitrogenous material, and 
also as a brain food. And the same authority states 
that the various qualities of wheat contain from ten and 
a half to fifteen per cent, of nitrogenous material, and 
from three and a half to five per cent, nutrient salts ; 
while the fine white flour has only one and seven- 
tenths per cent, of nitrogenous substance, and seven 
tenths per cent, of salts. 

Now in order to realize to the fullest extent the great 
loss the people sustain in this modern method of treat- 
ing the wheat used as food, it will be necessary for the 
reader to have a correct idea of the constituent element 
of the human body, and what elements are used up in 
the daily exercise of brain and muscle, and all vital 
operations, which the food must replace. 

If we could take a human body of average size, weigh- 
ing one hundred and fifty-four pounds, and subject it to 
chemical analysis, we would find it to contain : 

lbs. oz. grs. 

OfOxygen Ill 

Carbon 21 

Hydrogen 14 

Nitrogen 3 8 

Phosphorus 1 12 UK) 

Calcium 2 

Sulphur 2 219 

Fluorine 2 

Chlorine 2 47 

Sodium U 2 116 

Iron 100 

Potassium 290 

Magnesium 12 

Silicon 2 



HuuuDi Dcvclop))h'iit and Progress. 107 

"The oxygen and hydrogen, for the most part, are 
combined in the body in the form of water, of which 
there would be about one hundred and ten pounds. 

^' The carbon is mainly contained in the fat ; the phos- 
phorus and calcium exists in the bones, phosphorus and 
sulphur in the brain and also in the flesh, the other min- 
erals in the juices of the flesh and the blood. "'^^ 

Although the quantity of iron that is found in the 
blood is very small, yet it plays a very important part in 
the economy of life, and a very little reduction below the 
normal amount, would cause serious disturbances of the 
health of the individual. And the same may be said of 
all the mineral substances that are found in the body ; 
reduce the normal amount, and disturbances will be pro- 
duced somewhere in the human economy. If the cal- 
cium or lime be deficient, then the bones will not become 
sufficiently hard and strong to support the body and 
deformity will be the result ; if chloride of sodium (table 
salt) be insufficient, digestion will suffer, as the digestive 
fluid of the stomach gets its hydrochloric acid from the 
salt of the food, and without the digestive fluid contains 
this it cannot digest the food ; and lastly, if the food 
does not contain the normal amount of phosphorus and 
sulphur, the mental powers cannot properly act ; and all 
the mineral substances that enter into the formation of 
the body must be regularly and sufficiently supplied, or 
the health will suffer. 

But although these mineral substances are so essential 
to the perfect working of the human organism, yet none 
of them would answer the purpose of food if partaken of 
uncombined and as they are found in the chemist's lab- 
oratory. To be suited for food they must enter into 



* Dr. Nicholas. 



io8 Hiiina7i Development and Progress. 

combination with other substances in the vegetable 
organism ; and all vegetable substances intended for 
man's food, contain more or less of these mineral com- 
binations. In a pound of wheat there is about 120 grs. 
of these mineral substances, which is just suited for 
building up the tissues and brain of man ; a pound of 
oatmeal or barley meal contains about the same 
amount, while a pound of potatoes has but half the 
quantity. Peas, beans, and lentils are also rich in these 
mineral salts so necessary to human existence ; while 
cabbage and other culinary vegetables contain them 
in lesser quantities. Beef, mutton, pork, and all kinds 
of poultry and game contain a large percentage of these 
nutritive salts, and if there were not other objections 
against the use of flesh meats, they might be reckoned 
as first-class food. 

But no where else do these nutritive salts exist in 
such perfect condition for man's food, as in the wheat- 
grain ; and for all conditions of life, the foods properh' 
prepared from the whole wheat flour, leaves nothing to 
be desired. 

In order that the reader may have a definite idea of 
the magnitude of the metamorphosis of tissue going on 
in the human organism during the full vigor of life, I 
will give the amount of material discharged from the 
adult human body during twenty-four hours, as given 
by Prof. Dalton : 

Carbonic Acid from the Lungs, 1 535 lbs 

Aqueous Vapor from the Lungs, 1.155 " 

Perspiration from the Skin 1.950 " 

Water of the Urine 2.020 " 

Urea and Salts in the Urine 0.110 " 

Feces 0.320 " 

7.070 lbs. 



lliin/an Dcvclop)}icnt and Progress. 109 

Thus, a little over seven pounds is discharged daily 
from a healthy adult, and for a man of the average of 
154 lbs., a quantity equal to the weight of the entire 
body, passes through the system every 22 days. Nor 
is this a simple filtration of foreign substances through 
the system ; but the materials taken into the system 
were actually combined with the tissues, and formed a 
part of their substance, and it is only after undergoing 
subsequent decomposition, that they finally pass out of 
the body in the excretions." '^^ 

None of the solid ingredients of the food are dis- 
charged under the forms they were taken into the sys- 
tem : that is, as starch, fat, albumen or gluten, but they 
are changed into urea and other crystallizable substances 
of a different nature, after they served to support the 
vital processes of life. Even the carbonic acid exhaled 
from the lungs, is produced by the decomposition going 
on throughout the tissues of the body, which are thus 
rapidly melted away, and must therefore be as rapidly 
renewed by the food, or the system will soon become 
exhausted. 

In the table giving the composition of the human 
body, it was found that the great bulk of the body is 
made up of the four elementary substances which plants 
get from tearing to pieces carbonic acid, water and 
ammonia, viz.: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen ; 
and now, if we will examine the excretions from the 
body of man, we find the same elementary substances 
again in excess, but in new combinations. 

It is true the carbonic acid exhaled with the breath is 
the same as that used by the plant for food ; but the 



Dal ton. 



I lO HiiDian Dcvelopi)ie)it and Progress. 

plant decomposed 'it and retained its carbon only, and 
gave back its oxygen to the atmosphere. This is the 
great means by which the air is kept pure enough to 
breathe ; and if plants did not decompose the carbonic 
acid that is constantly being exhaled from man and 
animals, the atmosphere would soon contain two great 
an amount for safe respiration, and animal existence 
would be swept from the face of the earth. 

If we examine the urine with the light of science, 
we find the same wonderful provision of nature to 
secure the preservation of the bodily organism by the 
operation of physiological law. For example, the urea, 
which is separated from the blood by the kidneys and 
carried out of the system in the urine, if allowed to ac- 
curriulate in the blood, would soon poison the system 
and destroy the life. Just where it is formed in the 
system is not certainly known, but it is supposed to 
come from the decomposition of the muscular tissue, 
brought about by exercise. This supposition is 
strengthened by the fact that the quantity of urea in the 
urine is always increased after active exercise of the 
muscular system. Its chemical composition also points 
to its origin in muscular decomposition. It is made up 
C2 H4 N2 O2 the leading elementary substances that 
make up the muscles of the body. 

All the solid constituents found dissolved in the urine 
in health, are poisonous if allowed to accumulate in the 
blood, and all are formed from the metamorphosis of 
the tissues and brain, during their action. In fact, the 
extent of muscular and mental action can be approxi- 
mately computed from the amount and character of the 
excretion thrown off by the skin and kidneys. If the 
mental powers are actively engaged, then the urea and 



Human Development and Progress. i i i 

the phosphates of soda, hme and potassa, are more 
abundant in the urine from the destruction of brain 
substance as the result of mental action. And the 
human organism can no more be kept in working order 
without the removal of these waste substances than can 
the engine be kept running without the removal of the 
ashes which results from the oxydation of the fuel. 

But it is evident, that of the seven pounds of sub- 
stance discharged from the human organism every 
twenty-four hours, none of it is in the same form as when 
it entered the body except the water, which passes 
through the system unchanged ; and this constitutes over 
two-thirds of the whole amount. 

All the solid constituents of the food undergo 
changes in the system, by first being liquified by the 
process of digestion, when it passes into the current of 
blood, and is used in the building up of the various 
tissues of the body as required. No substance then, 
can answer the purpose of food, that digestion cannot 
melt down into liquid form, as there are no open chan- 
nels through which it could find its way into the blood. 

In the preparation of foods for children, the leading 
idea that should guide the parents, is this: that the 
food must not only make good the waste that is con- 
tinually going on in the active organisms of their chil- 
dren, but provision must be made for the increased 
development of their organisms ; and whether they are 
to develop good, sound working organisms in their 
children, will depend upon the food provided for them, 
together with obedience to physiological laws in all 
other directions. 

Each day's food can only furnish a definite amount of 
force producing material to the system ; and in the case 



112 Ihinian Development and Progress. 

of children, this definite amount must exceed the 
amount used up in the days' expenditure in labor, study 
and play, or there can be no growth and development 
and no reserve force to sustain life, in case of disease or 
accident, when the system cannot partake of food, and 
must depend on the reserve force already stored up in 
it, until the system can be restored to its normal con- 
dition. Now the kind and quality of food that will give 
to children the best possible development, with the 
greatest amount of reserve force, is the kind and quality 
that parents should provide for their children; and this 
requires a great amount of thought and judgment on 
the part of parents. 

So far as the diet of young infants is concerned, if 
the mother has good health, and there is no impedi-^ 
ment to her nursing, it will need no other food than 
what its mother's breasts will supply, until it gets suffi- 
cient teeth to masticate its food, when it may be grad- 
ually changed to good, healthy, solid food, properly 
prepared for easy digestion. But if from any cause, 
nursing is impracticable by the mother, the question 
arises, is it best to seek a wet nurse, that is, some 
healthy woman who can furnish milk from her breast, 
to take the place of the mother's. All medical au- 
thority advises this course ; but it is so often unattain- 
able, and is attended with so much risk and expense, 
that it is hardly worth considering for the majority of 
the people. And besides it is entirely safe and feasible 
to raise a child by hand, provided the necessary pre- 
cautions are used. The first requisite is of course to 
furnish the little one a diet, as nearly approaching a 
healthy woman's milk as possible. This can always be 
easily done in the country and in villages where fresh 



IIin/iaN Dri'clopifunt and Progress, 113 

cow's milk is always at hand or within easy access. 
But in large towns and cities, the dairymen have to be 
depended on, and then the milk should be frequently 
examined by a competent person, and none used that 
is not pure and good. 

Then, supposing we have pure milk, the question 
arises, how does it differ from the milk of a healthy 
woman? Analysis has shown that cow's milk con- 
tains a larger percentage of caseine and butter, and less 
sugar ; therefore sugar must be added and a sufficient 
amount of water to make it equivalent to a healthy 
woman's milk. For the very young infant, the food 
may be prepared in this way : take three-fourths of a 
pint of new milk fresh from the cow, and if in hot 
weather, put in a very little bicarbonate of soda or 
bicarbonate of potassa, and a little pinch of salt, place 
it on the stove to heat. Then stir a teaspoonful of 
ground barley in a gill of cold water and gradually pour 
this into the milk, stirring the mixture all the while until 
it has boiled some five minutes or more. Now remove 
from the stove and stir in a teaspoonful of white sugar, 
when the mixture ma}^ be strained through a cloth and 
it is ready for use. Feed this to the babe from a nurs- 
ing bottle when about the temperature of new milk, 
and if all other physiological laws are observed, the 
little one can hardly fail to thrive. If the bowels be- 
come constipated, the same amount of oatmeal may be 
used instead of the barley, and the mixture prepared in 
the same manner. 

The most frequent error committed upon children 
raised by hand, as well as those fed at the breast, is in 
feeding too frequently. If the child cries or is fretful, it 
is supposed to be hungry; and no matter if it has just 

16 



1 14 H in nan Development and Progress. 

been fed, the process is again repeated, and very fre- 
quently a great amount of injury is done in this way. 
Now, no matter whether the mother is nursing her 
babe or raising it by hand, let her have regular hours 
to give it nourishment ; and this rule if judiciously made, 
should never be departed from unless the babe be really 
sick, when it may be proper to suspend all feeding for a 
time. In the first two months of a babe's life, once 
every three hours is often enough for it to be fed during 
the day and twice through the night ; and as it gets 
older let the time be lengthened ; and after three 
months old, once feeding during the night is sufficient. 

Another important matter that should never be de- 
parted from, is to provide a separate crib for the babe 
to sleep in ; and after the first week or two of its life it 
should never be permitted to sleep in the bed with its 
mother, no matter how cold the weather may be ; but 
be sure to keep it warm in its crib. Let this be placed 
near the mother's bed, and at the proper time for feed- 
ing, she can take it up and let it nurse, and then re- 
turn it to its crib ; or if she is raising it by hand, let her 
have some convenient arrangement for warming its food 
when she can feed it in its crib without taking it up if 
thought best. But as infants should not be permitted 
to lie too long in one position, it would be best to 
change its position even if it was not taken from its 
crib. But if the little one is sleeping at the regular 
hour for feeding, do not disturb its slumbers, for if it is 
actually needing food, the demands of its system will 
awaken it soon enough. 

Thus, by adopting definite rules in the management 
of the babe in strict conformity to physiological law, its 
development will be placed upon safe foundations ; 



Human DcvcIopDicut and Progress. 1 1 5 

and if there is no inherited defect, the parents can look 
forward to a bright and happy future for their darhng. 
But so long as the young immortal is under the care 
and control of the parents, the physiological laws of 
development must be carefully observed in every di- 
rection. And nowhere else is there greater danger of 
failure to observe these laws than in the matter of foods ; 
especially after the babe has reached that important 
period when its mental powers are undergoing the train- 
ing of the schoolroom. Parents so often look forward 
to this period as a partial release of responsibility to 
them, and the transference of it to the school and 
teacher. But it would be well for parents to know, 
that the capacity for the mental development of their 
children rests upon several indispensible conditions ; 
the m.ost important of which is, that the blood be kept 
supplied with an abundance of suitable proximate princi- 
ples to build up a good sound organism ; for without 
this, no satisfactory mental development can take place. 
But what are these essential proximate principles 
that will produce physical and mental development, and 
how are they supplied to the blood ? As physical devel- 
opment is the building up of the various tissues of the 
body, the blood must be supplied with the proximate 
principles that make up these tissues, and these are 
found to be the albuminoid organic compounds built up 
by vegetable growth, and which are stored up in the 
leaves, the juices, the grains, the fruits, or edible roots 
of vegetables. If animal flesh is used as food, we 
know the animal built up its flesh by eating these same 
vegetable products, and so it amounts to the same thing 
so far as these proximate principles are concerned ; but 



ii6 Human Dcvclopiiicnt and Pivgress. 

there are objections against the use of animal flesh for 
food that will be considered further on. 

The mental and moral development must be secured, 
if at all, by supplying the blood with the proximate 
principles which constitute the brain substance, for it 
is through the brain development that the mental and 
moral faculties are made capable of enlarging. How- 
ever much scientists may differ as to how mental opera- 
tions are brought about in the brain, yet all agree that 
there can be no mental operation without there is brain 
development ; and that the mental operation destroys a 
portio^i of the brain substance. Now in the case of 
young and growing children, as before remarked, the 
food must not only make good the waste that is taking 
place in the organism, but it must supply enough for 
continued increase of development. 

The kind and quality of food that will best accom- 
plish this purpose, is the kind and quality that should 
be given the child during this important period of life ; 
and the failure of parents to provide the requisite food, 
too often entails very serious consequences upon the 
child. In fact, it is very seldom that parents give any 
thought at all to this subject; and in providing food for 
their children while attending school, the whims and 
disordered appetites of their children are more frequently 
consulted than the actual want of the organism. If 
children have been fed from infancy on just such food 
as the system requires, then the appetite will be natural 
and can be trusted as a guide in the selection and quan- 
tity of food ; but such instances are very rare, and the 
appetite usually becomes perverted and calls for im- 
proper food. 

Then it becomes necessary for parents to provide a 



Hirniaii DcvclopDicnt and Progress. 1 1 7 

dietary for their children, based upon true physiological 
principles, and to do this they must understand the 
wants of the system under all the different conditions of 
life. If the mental powers are being taxed to the 
utmost in the various school exercises, and at the 
same time the bodily organs are rapidly developing, it 
is certainly plain that the food should be most nutritious 
in quality and ample in quantity. But if we will inves- 
tigate the dietary provided for children in this country, 
while attending school, we will find that while it is 
ample in quantity, its quality is greatly deficient in 
many essential nutritive properties. The great bulk of 
food for children during this period is made of fine 
white flour, which has been deprived of too great a 
proportion of its albuminoid, and nutritive salts ; 
and while the children in most families are allowed what 
meat they will eat, still, the white bread, cakes and 
pastry, made of the white flour, constitute the greater 
portion of their dietary. 

In the consideration of the question whether animal 
flesh shall constitute a portion of the dietary of growing 
children, there is one leading idea which should guide 
us. If a meat diet gives the best results to the children 
who use it, then a meat diet should be provided ; but if 
a dietary can be furnished, exclusive of all flesh foods, 
that will build up a better physical, mental and moral 
development, then meats should be excluded from their 
foods. This is a plain statement of the rationale of the 
question, and it is worthy of the most thorough investi- 
gation. But the mass of the people in this country 
have so long been accustomed to the use of flesh foods, 
that the great majority will not listen to any argument 
against its use, no matter how well it may be supported. 



ii8 Human Dc^rlofuinit and Progress. 

Now, while society is not yet ready to discard flesh 
foods entirely from the dietary, there is no question 
but that too much of it is used in this country ; and 
that all children will do much better without it. The 
evils which result from animal flesh as food are both phys- 
ical and moral ; and to form a just estimate of its value 
as food it must be viewed from both these stand-points. 

There are many varying circumstances which affect 
the condition of the animal before it is butchered ; many 
of these unquestionably produce an injurious effect upon 
the flesh and render it unfit for food. Everyone ought 
to know that the flesh of the animal is greatly modified 
by the character of its food ; the pork made from 
hogs, fattened on offal, or even mast, will not command 
as high price in market as that made from corn-fed hogs. 
If onions be fed to a beef a few hours before it is butch- 
ered, the flavor of the onion can be distinctly recognized 
through the flesh of the whole animal. 

And while these facts are well known to every intel- 
Hgent person, yet great quantities of the flesh of many 
animals, that are regular scavengers, and live on all sorts 
of filth and garbage, are greedily eaten by the mass of 
the people. 

Again, animals are frequently chased and run for 
hours just before being killed, and, as a consequence, a 
considerable portion of the muscular tissue has been oxy- 
dized ; and as there has not been time for the broken 
down tissue to be removed, it must therefore be eaten 
along with the sound flesh ; and this broken down tissue 
is certainly unfit for man's food. 

And again, the flesh of animals is known to be in- 
fested at times with various kinds of vermin and their 
ova, and these but too often are taken directly into the 



I III man Development and Pjvgress. \ 19 

human organism, where they rapidly propagate and in- 
jure the health and destroy the life of the individual. 
Whole families have been cut off by the TrichiucU Spi- 
ralis, which could be traced back directly to the flesh of 
the hog, of which they had all eaten. The germ of the 
tape-worm only finds its way into the human organism 
from the flesh of the animals eaten as food ; and that 
terrible scourge of the human race, scrofula, which is so 
often found in the hog, is thus transferred to the human 
organism, paving the way to that direst of all human 
maladies, consumption. 

All these various circumstances unquestionably ope- 
rate injuriously upon the health of the people who par- 
take of flesh foods, and should certainly weigh strongly 
against their general use. 

But let us look at the moral side of the question. 
That the use of animal flesh as food for children, inordi- 
nately feeds and developes the animal appetites and 
passions, and starves the mental and moral faculties, I 
think there is no question. If we will turn our atten- 
tion to the lower animals, we find that all the carnivora, 
or flesh eating animals, are ferocious and savage in their 
natures, while all the herbivora, or vegetable feeders, are 
mild and gentle in their disposition. 

If we will look back at the condition of the aborig- 
ines of this country when it was discovered, we find the 
northern tribes lived almost entirely upon the flesh of 
the wild animals they captured; and these tribes were 
most savage and ferocious ; while the nations that inhab- 
ited Mexico had fine gardens, and subsisted mostly 
upon vegetables and fruits, were far advanced in civil- 
ization and were much more refined in all their feelings 
and actions. 



I20 Ihivian Developvient and Pi ogress. 

And while this fact alone will not suffice to settle the 
question, yet it certainly is a strong argument against 
the use of flesh for food. And if we look back at the 
experiences of mankind, all history points in the same 
direction. All the record of evidence as far as it can 
be obtained, goes to establish the fact that those persons 
who have exchanged a partial meat diet for a carefully 
selected one of vegetables, grains and fruits, have ex- 
perienced increased physical and mental power, together 
with the gradual weakening of the passions. 

But the reader may claim that any plan of living 
that rejects the use of flesh foods, destroys a great pro- 
portion of the wealth of the nation, and therefore must 
not be thought of. Now while I think this idea a great 
fallacy — as the country can support more persons with- 
out animals than with them — yet I am not writing a 
work on political economy, but am endeavoring to 
point the way toward securing a higher development of 
man through the constant observance of the physiolog- 
ical laws as far as these laws may be known. That the 
use of flesh food is not in harmony with the true phys- 
iological laws that lead to enlargement of the mental 
and moral powers, and purity of life, seems to me an 
established fact. 

It is very probable that the constant use of flesh 
foods for generations back, has so changed the physical 
constitution in many instances that an abrupt abandon- 
ment of that class of foods may so affect the appetite, 
that a sufficient amount of vegetables and fruits would 
not be tolerated to keep the vital force to the healthy 
standard ; and in all such cases a gradual change, if 
any, must be adopted. But in the case of children, if 
their foods have been provided in accordance with the 



JIunum DcvclopDiciit and Progress. 121 

principles laid down in this work, there is no question, 
but the most vigorous health may be maintained, at 
least with only the addition of eggs and milk. 

Then let me suggest a suitable dietar}' for children 
during the period of their school life, which will be in 
harmony with the true physiological laws, and which will 
thoroughly support and maintain all the powers of life. 

As the largest period of fasting is during the night, 
it is important that the morning meal should be full and 
complete in every particular. But let no mother in her 
haste to prepare this meal, neglect the precaution to 
see that her children have taken their morning bath, 
and have had a romp out in the open air, when they 
will be ready for their breakfast. This may consist of 
soft boiled eggs, potatoes, or other vegetables, warm 
crriddle cakes made of the unbolted wheat meal, 
gems, or rolls, made of the same material, with plenty 
of good butter and honey or molasses, if desired. 
This may be changed to stale brown bread, toasted and 
a dressing of new milk and sugar boiled and poured 
over it, or oatmeal gruel with new milk and sugar, and 
vegetables in their season ; and always some good ripe 
fruits, or canned fruits if they can be had. 

Such breakfasts as I have indicated require but little 
labor to prepare, are always appetizing and satisfactory 
to children with unperverted appetites, and will amply 
support all the powers of life. But let mothers be 
watchful that their children do not form the habit of 
eating too rapidly, but that they take time enough to 
masticate the food thoroughly ; then there will be no 
necessity of limiting the amount, but let the appetite 
be the sole guide. 

After the morning meal is ejided, at least an hour of 
17 



122 lliij/ian Dcvclop))i€)it and Progress. 

quiet should be enjoined, that the increased flow of 
blood to the digestive organs may not be disturbed. 
This increased flow of blood to an organ is essential to 
the proper performance of its function, and hence an 
hour or so of quiet should always follow the eating ot 
meals. After the hour of rest is ended the children will 
be ready for two hours of real study in the school room 
without any exhaustion being produced ; as such a 
breakfast as I have indicated is all sufficient to compen- 
sate for the loss the system sustains from the mental 
effort and physical exercise. But after the allotted 
study, some time should be taken in active, vigorous, 
out-door sports, to prepare the appetite for the noon- 
day meal. This may consist of brown bread and but- 
ter, at least two varieties of vegetables plainly cooked, 
and for dessert well cooked cracked wheat or barley, to 
be eaten with rich milk and sugar, and some sound ripe 
fruits, if they can be had. 

There are so many varieties of good nutritious vegeta- 
bles used for food that the dietary may be frequently 
changed, without infringing upon the physiological 
laws ; the same may also be said of fruits. The 
cracked wheat, whole wheat flour, and crushed bar- 
ley, oatmeal, and cornstarch, can all be prepared in 
so many different ways, that there need be no lack of 
variety in such a dietary as I have laid down. 

After the dinner is ended, then must come the hour 
of rest again, in order that the food may be digested, 
when the children will be prepared for their afternoon 
studies, which should not occupy more than two hours ; 
and this should be followed by vigorous out-door sports 
and games, or exercise in some sort of labor. 

I am aware that the modern style of dress for young 



Huviau Dcvclopnioit and Progress. 123 

girls will greatly interfere with vigorous, athletic sports 
for them ; but mothers must remember that if they 
intend to aid in securing a higher development of man, 
they must make the dress of their daughters, as well as 
their sons, conform to the physiological laws. These 
daughters are to be the future mothers of the coming 
race, and they will need strong and vigorous constitu- 
tions to fit them for their future position in life. 

But the afternoon play, or labor, being ended, the 
children will be ready for their evening meal, which 
should always be light and easily digested, and should 
be eaten at least as early as six o'clock. It may consist 
of whole wheat flour mush, to be eaten with milk, or 
what is better with butter and sugar ; or it may consist 
of dry toast made of brown flour bread, or oatmeal 
porridge and milk and sugar. 

Such a dietary as I have laid down can be changed 
and varied from day to day, to avoid too much same- 
ness, and to suit the convenience of the house-wife ; but 
rich cake and pastry, made of fine white flour and other 
amyloid foods, cannot be substituted for any of the 
leading articles named, without serious detriment to the 
children. 

I have left out meats entirely from this dietary, for 
the reason that children will be much healthier without 
them ; and they do not sufficiently feed the brain and 
nervous system to secure the full development of the 
mental and moral faculties. And for all the purposes 
of life, the wheat grain, as it comes from the hand of 
nature, is the most perfect food material of any known 
product, and for thousands of years it has constituted 
the great staple of man's food. But we must go back 
to using the entire product of the grain, as did the 



124 Human Dcvclopiucut and Progress. 

ancient nations, and not depend on fine white flour, 
as now made, which contains an insufficiency of every- 
thing but starch. 

I am aware the advocates of our present mode of 
Hving claim, that never in the history of man has civiU- 
zation made such rapid strides as in this country during 
the last half century ; and yet meats, and white flour 
bread, cakes, etc. , have constituted the chief food mate- 
rial of the mass of the people. But when we come to 
analyze this claim, we find it needs considerable qualifica- 
tion before it can be accepted as a fair test of value for 
our present mode of living. Our civilization consists 
more in the building up of great estates, and the means 
of aesthetic display by the few who have adopted 
better ways of living, rather than the enlargement and 
purification of the mental and moral nature in the masses. 
Hence while there are great estates and fine palatial 
residences scattered over the country, there is also great 
destitution and suffering among the masses, together 
with large accessions to the criminal classes. 

And while improved systems of living, in other di- 
rections, have tended to add to the longevity of man, our 
imperfect foods have evidently produced an increase in 
certain classes of nervous disease and suffering, and is 
very seriously compromising the mental and moral 
stamina of the coming generations. In fact, there is 
not at the present time a State in the Union that can 
sufficientl}' provide for all the insane, and idiotic and 
other nervous sufferers our bad dietaries and bad system 
of living has entailed upon them. Nor can any State 
build prisons large enough to hold its criminals. 

And while one generation of people may use this 
faulty, imperfect food, without showing any ver}' serious 



HuDiaii Devrlopifiiiif and Progress. 125 

injury to tliemselves, the injury will be felt more seriously 
by their descendents. Hundreds and thousands of chil- 
dren all over this beautiful land have entailed upon them 
weakened constitutions and vitiated appetites, through 
the bad living and faulty nutrition of their parents, that 
dooms them to lives of misery, crime, and premature 
death. Hundreds and thousands of others are living 
mere fractional lives, with no aspirations higher than the 
gratification of their own perverted appetites and pro- 
pensities inherited from their ancestors. 

I would to God, I could impress upon my country- 
men the magnitude of the evils that flow through in- 
heritance — that the errors and evil principles in the 
modes of living adopted by us, do not end with the 
vicious influences they stamp upon our own lives, but 
that the most fearful consequences are bequeathed to our 
children. ' ' Consider the tens of thousands always being 
born in our large cities, who by bad parentage, bad 
conception, foul air, foul food, and all manner of evil 
influences, get at once summarily stamped and sealed 
off to depravity and perdition."^ These are society's 
failures, which our boasted civilization is constantly in- 
creasing and multiplying instead of crushing out. Evil 
influences once warmed into life, like noxious vermin, 
fearfully extend and increase, and spread devastation and 
ruin in their track. 

Consider then, dear parents, that in every instance in 
which you depart from the true physiological laws of 
life, you are warming into life some of these evil influ- 
ences that will take years of correct living in yourselves 
and your children to eradicate. And it is marvelous 

-Charles Nesbit. 



1 26 Fhuiian Development and Progress. 

that parents will wear out their own lives in grinding 
toil, to build up great estates to bequeath to their chil- 
dren, and will utterly disregard all phv'siological laws in 
the selection and preparation of foods for their families, 
in order that the grand display of the culinary art, as 
exhibited on their tables, may be the theme of conver- 
sation and praise among their friends and acquaintances 
— losing sight entirely of the sole object of foods, which 
is to supply nutrition to the body in such forms as can 
be best assimilated, and thus subserve its normal pur- 
pose in the human economy. But the further con- 
sideration of this question will be continued in the 
next chapter. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Foods Continued — Plain Foods to Sustain Normal Conditions — 
Imperfect Foods lead to Vice and Intemperance — The use of Arti- 
ficial Stimulants Injurious to the Moral Nature as well as the 
Phj'sical — Br^jad the staff of Life— White f^our bread Imperfect 
—Dr. Trail's Prize Bread — Light Bread and how Made — Yeast — 
What is lost b}^ Light Bread — The Cereal Grains — These with 
Vepietables and Fruits the Natural Food of Man — Appeal to 
Mothers — Reform Cooking Clubs--CofFee and Tea — Regular 
Meals — The Proximate Principles Required in the Food — Ex- 
amples of Different Dietaries. 

IF we will but watch the natural processes of life, 
we can see the strongest evidence that a plain and 
simple mode of life will alone sustain man in his nor- 
mal condition. We have found that the system requires 
but a sufficient amount of various elementary sub- 
stances, and that all these elementary substances must be 
taken in the form of certain proximate principles, which 
are found to exist ready formed in the different varieties 
of grains, vegetables and fruits; and now in the selec- 
tion and preparation of foods, every attempt to change 
the character of these proximate principles, either by 
cooking or otherwise, injures or destroys their nutritive 
properties, and they cease to be proper foods for man. 
And an organism built up of these changed proximate 
principles, can never exist in its normal condition, or 



T28 Ilimian Development and Progress. 

perform its normal functions. A physiological law has 
been broken, and an abnormal condition is brought 
about through the broken law. 

We can see, therefore, how imperfect foods pave 
the way to habits of intemperance. The appetite is the 
natural expression of the system of a want of nutrition ; 
and if the food furnished does not supply the want, the 
appetite must remain unsatisfied, and there will be left 
a constant craving for something to satisfy it. This is 
unquestionably a physiological law of life: that the nat- 
ural wants of the s)^stem must be normally satisfied, or 
their expression in the system will continue to demand 
satisfaction. Imperfect foods failing to maintain life's 
forces up to the normal standard, this morbid craving of 
the appetite demands satisfaction ; and instead of the in- 
dividual seeking it in better foods, there is an almost 
universal appeal for artificial stimulants. These arti- 
ficial stimulants embrace tea, coffee, spices, and stimu- 
lating condiments used with the foods, together with 
all alcoholic liquors, opium, Indian hemp, &c. 

All these substances when taken into the system, 
seem to have the power of urging on the life forces, 
already in the system, to more vigorous action ; and this 
will satisfy the craving for as long a time as the artificial 
stimulant will continue to hold up the vital force to the 
normal standard. But these artificial stimulants furnish 
an extremely small amount of nutriment, and most of 
them, none at all, to sustain life's forces; they only urge 
on the system to use what force is already stored up 
in it, and as soon as the effect ceases, the life forces 
must fall as much below that condition the poor food 
supply had secured, as the stimulant had raised them 
above that condition. In other words, the artificial 



1 1 lima II Dcvilopnunl and rrogrcss. 129 

stimulant by quickening the circulation through the 
system, has induced the oxydation of the brain and 
other tissues of an imperfectly nourished system, equal 
to what would have taken place had the system been 
fully nourished. 

Hence the stimulant has secured for a time the equiv- 
alent sensation of healthy action, and the craving is sat- 
isfied, as long as this sensation lasts. But it is plain to 
be seen, that the artificial stimulant, by the increased 
circulation, and consequent increased oxydation of the 
tissues, has actually consumed a greater amount of the 
tissues of the body, than the imperfect foods can re- 
place ; and as soon as the effect ceases, the life forces 
fall as much below the normal standard, as the stimu- 
lant raised them above, and hence the intolerable crav- 
ing returns with re-doubled violence. 

And now comes the irresistable desire to repeat the 
stimulation to once more get rid of the morbid craving ; 
and the habit is fixed that must irresistably lead man 
farther and farther from the true normal condition. 
Nor is this merely a departure from the normal condi- 
tion of the physical system, but the whole mental and 
rrioral nature is dragged down along with the degrada- 
tion of the body. 

The mental and moral faculties cannot continue their 
normal action, unless the blood is kept supplied with 
the necessary proximate principles to rebuild the por- 
tions of the brain substance destroyed in this normal 
action. Any other class of proximate principles than 
what constitutes healthy brain tissue, will not answer 
here ; and as the human system cannot make any of 
these proximate principles, the food must supply them 
ready formed and of proper purity, or the functions of 
18 



130 Ifiimaii IjLTclopjiioit and Progress. 

the brain will be impaired. And if the food does fur- 
nish the necessary proximate principles needed for all 
the vital processes of life, but only in an impure state, 
then will the vital processes be devoid of sufficient 
force ; and the derangement must extend to the men- 
tal and moral powers. The normal action of these fac- 
ulties is just as much dependent upon a full supply of 
pure and perfect blood to the brain, as a full supply of 
pure blood is essential to any other normal function of 
the body. 

We may see illustrations of this in persons under the 
influence of spirituous liquors. As the fiery alcohol 
courses through the brain, along with the blood, the 
mental and moral faculties become unbalanced under 
the influence of the unnatural stimulant, and the man 
becomes "fit for treason, stratagems and spoils." The 
extent of the mental and moral derangement, will, of 
course, vary greatly in different individuals, and in the 
same individual at different times ; owing to the nature 
of the stimulant used, the amount circulating with the 
blood to the brain, the temperament of the individual, 
the condition" of the system at the time, &c. But im- 
purities in the blood coursing through the brain, will 
just as certainly produce mental and moral derangement, 
as it will lead to disturbances in the physical system. 

These mental and moral faculties have a physical basis 
in the brain, and their normal action is just as depend- 
ent upon a supply of pure oxygenated blood to this 
physical basis, as is normal muscular action dependent 
upon pure blood to the muscular system. And as this 
pure oxygenated blood must be supplied by a food con- 
taining all the essential proximate principles the system 
requires, and the inhalation of pure air into the lungs, 



HuDiaii DevclopDioit and J^ogrcss. 1 3 I 

certainly every one can see and appreciate the import- 
ance that attaches to the selection of proper food. 

In fact, there are two leading ideas that should always 
be kept in view in the selection of foods, and these are 
first, purity — exemption of the food from everything 
that would tend to produce contamination of the blood ; 
and second, that the food contains all the proximate 
principles the system requires. And as bread in some 
form constitutes the leading article of diet among all 
civilized people, and is reckoned the staff oi Hfe, it should 
certainly be made as near a perfect food as is possible, 
and should contain whatever the system requires. 
And made of the fine white flour, as it almost uni- 
versally is, it contains but very little nourishment, es- 
pecially for the brain and nervous system. So there must 
be a radical change here, especially in the bread for grow- 
ing children, before there can be much progress toward 
a higher and purer life. 

Some years ago Dr Trail, of Florence Heights, New 
Jersey, a leading spirit in hygienic reform in this 
country, offered a prize of one hundred dollars for the 
best recipe for making bread ; the prize to be awarded 
by a competent committee chosen for the purpose, and 
the recipe of each contestant to be accompanied with 
specimens oi bread made in accordance with the recipe. 
This elicited great interest among the people of the 
country, and brought out over one hundred contestants 
for the prize. The committee, after the most thorough 
and searching canvass of the claims of each, awarded 
the prize to the person who furnished the following 
recipe. '* Mix unbolted meal of any grain preferred, 
or of a mixture of tw^o or more kinds in any proportions 
which may be preferred, with pure water, either cold or 



132 Human Devclopvieiit and Progress. 

hot. If cold water is emplo)'ed, the meal and water 
should be mixed to the consistency of thick batter ; 
then beaten or stirred a little with a spoon or ladle to 
incorporate more atmospheric air ; after which more 
meal is to be added until the mass becomes as stiff a 
dough as can well be kneaded. Knead the dough a 
few minutes (and the more the dough is kneaded, the 
more brittle and tender the bread will be), cut into 
pieces or cakes half an inch or three quarters of an inch 
in thickness, and about two inches in diameter, and 
bake in a quick oven — as hot as possible without burn- 
ing the crust, which must be carefully guarded against. 
It is better to moderate the heat of the oven a little, 
after three or five minutes. 

"If hot water is used, it should be boihng hot, and the 
meal and water stirred together very quickly with a 
strong spoon to the consistency of dough not quite so 
stiff as that for ordinary loaf bread made of fine white 
flour. It is then to be cut into pieces or cakes and 
baked as above. Either form of bread may be made 
into larger or smaller cakes, or into loaves of any con- 
venient size to bake, and baked in a gas, wood, coal, or 
kerosene stove, or in an oven ; and the crust be rendered 
as soft and tender as may be desired, by enveloping the 
cakes or loaves a short time in wet cloths immediately 
upon being taken from the oven. The small cakes 
when made with hot water, will soon become as tender 
as even the toothless can desire, by being kept in a 
covered earthen crock ; or the}- may be rendered as 
hard and solid as the soundest teeth can require, by 
leaving them uncovered in a dry place."* 

-Mrs. R. T. Trail. 



Human Devclopnient a)id PToo;rcss. 133 

The unbolted meal spoken of, is of course the un- 
bolted wheat flour, or the oat meal, or barley meal, 
or rye meal, and bread may be made out of any of these 
separately, or of two or three mixed together. That 
bread made by this recipe would be most excellent and 
nutritious food, there is no question ; and any house- 
keeper who will give it a fair trial, and persevere, until 
she becomes an expert in the process, will have taken 
a powerful stride toward bringing about the true eleva- 
tion of man. That this true elevation must be based 
upon a sounder and better physical, mental and moral 
basis than exists in this country at this time, there can 
be no question; and we cannot have this sounder and 
better basis, without furnishing the material to build it 
of. And as the bread made of the fine white flour, 
utterly fails to furnish all the material needed, the soon- 
er the change is brought about in this article, the bet- 
ter it will be for mankind. 

But I have no doubt the majority of house-keepers 
who read this, will exclaim at once, that such stuff as 
the bread made by the Trail recipe would not be fit to 
eat ; that they could not think of making bread without 
having it 'Might and spongy;" now, dear house- 
keeper, let us investigate the means you adopt to secure 
this ** lightness" as you call it, and its results. Well, 
you say, you mix your *' sponge" in the evening, in 
some suitable vessel, by taking fine w^iite flour, warm 
water and a little salt, and mix into a soft dough, and 
then put in a portion of yeast, and after stirring well, 
set in a warm place and 'Met it rise" until morning; 
after which a little more fine flour is stirred in, if not 
thick enough, and the mass well kneaded, and set to 
" rise " again, after which the process of kneading is 



134 Hiivian Dcrelopvicnt and Pro stress. 

again repeated, and the mass made into loaves and 
placed in pans ; now these must be kept in a warm 
place for a length of time to get sufficiently ** spongy," 
when the baking completes the process. 

This whole process has been a very tedious and com- 
plicated one, and but few house-wives succeed in it to 
their own satisfaction even. But supposing the success 
has been all that can be desired ; let us see what the 
house-wife has accomplished for all her trouble. The 
yeast she added to her mixture of flour and water, was 
a nitrogenous substance in a state of disintegration or 
fermentation, which resulted in the formation of a living 
plant called the yeast plant, the germs of which resided 
in the portion of yeast which was added to the mixture. 
This plant grows and multiplies very rapidly when 
placed under favorable conditions, which conditions are 
that it be kept warm and moist, and furnished with its 
appropriate food, which is sugar, or starch which it soon 
converts into sugar. It feeds upon the sugar by first 
decomposing it, using a part only of its elements for 
food, and the remainder is changed into, carbonic acid 
and alcohol. The carbonic acid, being a heavy gas, 
remains mingled in the mass of dough, * separating its 
particles, and this is what constitutes its "lightness." 
But the yeast put in the dough not only acts upon the 
starch and sugar of the flour, decomposing them, but 
it also acts upon the little albuminoid substance left in 
the fine flour, decomposing a portion of it, thus increas- 
ing the yeast in that way. Then to secure " lightness " 
to her bread, the housewife has destroyed a portion of 
the albuminoids left in her fine flour, and a greater por- 
tion of the starch and sugar, so that at least one-fourth 
of the nutrition which existed in the fine white flour is 



IIiiJiiaiL Dti'clopiiiciit and Pyognss. 135 

lost, and all of its sweetness, as the sugar has been decom- 
posed. If the yeast was obtained from the brewers, it 
was made from the nitrogenized products found in the 
barley mostly ; but no matter from wiiat made, it is 
always an^lbuminoid substance in a state of decompo- 
sition or fermentation. 

But a great many housewives prepare what they call 
dry yeast, and lay it away for future use. This is pre- 
pared by making a decoction of hops and stirring in 
some fine flour, and a little sugar, and also some yeast 
previously made. This is set to "rise," and when quite 
spongy, cornmeal is stirred in until the mass becomes 
quite thick, when it is rolled out into cakes and laid 
away in the sun to dry ; or if there be no sunshine, 
then in a warmed oven. If the heat is too great, it will 
destroy the life of the yeast germ and then the whole 
product is spoiled and must be thrown away. The 
drying is necessary in order to stop the process of fer- 
mentation until the yeast is needed, when it is to be wet 
up again and used as before. 

To secure light bread then by this process, there 
must be an albuminoid substance in a state of fer- 
mentation, sugar or starch, warmth and moisture, to- 
gether with flour, in order that the process of fermenta- 
tion may be continued until sufficient carbonic acid is 
produced to separate the particles of dough and make 
the bread light. During the process of baking, the life 
of the yeast plant is destroyed, the alcohol that resulted 
from the fermentation is driven off, and is lost in the 
oven and room, and the greater portion of the water in 
the dough is converted into vapor, and is also driven 
off Were it not for the baking then, the fermentation 
would continue until all the albuminoids, sugar, and 



13^ 1 liaiiaii Dcvclopiiiml and JVo^/rss. 

starch were destroyed, and not a particle of nutriment 
would be left. 

And now, heads of families, while you are partaking 
of your noonday meal of fine flour light bread, pork 
and v^egetables, and complaining of hard times and the 
terrible wickedness that exists all over the country, let 
us reason together and see if we cannot get at some of 
the causes which are producing all these evils. If you 
are a farm^er, you of course raise your own wheat, pork, 
and vegetables. The wheat you take to the mill to be 
ground into flour by being bolted, loses over one-half of 
its nutritive properties ; it is then made into bread for 
your family. The separated portions you take home 
and feed to your hogs and cows, and you say, you 
save it all in that way, as you get it in the form of 
pork and milk. But there is one little circumstance 
you have taken no account of, and let me direct your 
attention to that. More than one-half the food you 
give to your animals goes to support the life forces of 
the animal, and you cannot get that back in any form. 
Cows that give but little milk and are not taking on 
additional flesh, consume almost all they eat in the 
support of the life forces, and here you lose very nearly 
all you give them. Hogs that are not growing or 
taking on additional flesh, are consuming all they eat in 
the maintenance of their life forces. So you see, here 
is a very great waste you have taken no account of, 
and for which you can get no return ; and besides, you 
have furnished your family with very inferior food that 
is actually starving their brains and nervous system. 

And to cap the climax of absurdit}-, the fine flour you 
took home, you require your wife to make into bread by 
a process that destroys a great portion of the nutrition 



Humati Dci'clopuuiit and Progress. i ^^"j 

the miller left in it. And just think of the great 
amount of labor you have imposed upon yourself in 
raising and taking care of your stock, and the extra 
labor you have put upon your wife in her effort to get 
nice white bread to suit your taste, which is undoubt- 
edly an unnatural taste after all, just as the taste for all 
artificial stimulants is unnatural. 

Now, if the loss you have imposed upon yourself and 
family was merely a money loss, the case would not be 
so bad ; but along with the imperfect bodily nutrition 
thus brought about, there is imperfect working of the 
bodily and brain functions. And what are these bodily 
and brain functions that are thus disturbed ? The 
bodily functions are all the processes relating to the 
digestion and assimilation of the food, and the ex- 
cretion of the worn out tissues, together with all mus- 
cular movements of whatever kind ; while the brain 
functions consist in the production of a sufficient amount 
of nervous force, together with the entire action of the 
mental and moral faculties. 

This is a fearful commentary upon our progress in 
civilization ; but a very casual look at the condition of 
society is convincing proof that -the picture is not over- 
drawn. But it is useless to point out the shortcomings 
of society, unless something is done to produce a 
change for the better; and let me suggest to the house- 
wife who thinks she must have "light" bread, a great 
improvement on the old plan that has been in vogue so 
long. The following recipe is from the January, 1880, 
number of " TJie Herald of Health,'' and contains so 
many excellent qualities that I insert it for the benefit 
of all house-keepers into whose hands this book may 
fall. It is given as Mrs. Brown's plan for bread making: 



138 Hill nan Dcvclopnieiit and Progress. 

' * To make farmers' wives' cakes or loaves, take four 
pounds of wheat meal, unbolted ; put in a large pail 
and mix a spoonful of salt with it. Then take an ounce 
of yeast, and mix it in a cup with a little warm milk ; 
make a hole in the middle of the flour and pour it in. 
Take a spoon and stir luke-warm milk into the yeast 
and flour with some butter-milk, or all sweet milk can 
be used just as well, or half milk and water. The more 
milk used the more weight of bread you have. Stir 
it in the batter and let it stand for half an hour to work. 

*' At the end of the half hour work up the flour into 
the dough, and it will probably want a cup more of 
warm milk. Let it be well kneaded and cut the top 
twice across, put a cloth over the top of the bowl and 
let it stand for two or three hours to rise, then divide 
into three portions, knead a little more and make into a 
round cake and place in the baking tins and set before 
the fire about ten minutes to rise still further. Now, 
having the oven quite hot, place in the loaves and when 
the process of baking is about half completed, the 
loaves may be turned upside down in the tins and put 
back in the oven to complete the baking." 

The advantages of this plan is the short time oc- 
cupied in the fermentation, and by the addition of the 
milk the ferment acts almost entirely on it, and the 
flour is left sweet and uninjured by the process. 

Now this better way should certainly be acceptable 
to every house-keeper, when she reflects that it will 
save her a great amount of labor, and besides will be 
no infringement of the physiological laws; but will give 
a much better article of food which will infuse a m.ore 
vigorous life into every member of the household, and 
enable each the better to perform life's duties. 



Human Development and Progress. 139 

Nature committed no mistakes in the formation of 
her laws ; and she therefore provided no remedies for 
their infraction. The fiat is irrevocable. Obey, live, 
enjoy ; or disobey, suffer, and die. But the reader 
is no doubt ready to ask, must man live on bread 
alone, and that made of the unbolted wheatmeal ? 
There is no question but man can live much better on 
such bread alone than he can on the whole popular 
dietary of the present day ; but this is not necessary. 
All the cereals, as wheat, barley, oats, and rye, can be 
used in a great many different ways, as bread, puddings, 
mush, and porridge, and the wheat and barley when 
crushed and boiled until soft, and then eaten with milk 
and sugar or with stewed fruits, make a dish that almost 
every one relishes, and then they furnish the whole sys- 
tem with its appropriate nourishment. 

These are all rich albuminoid foods, and are all 
needed for the building up of the tissues, and to repair 
the constant waste occasioned by muscular and mental 
action. If more starchy food is required to furnish 
heat, it may be supplied by potatoes, rice, cornstarch, 
etc. In winter, there are the various kinds of nuts that 
will furnish only material for heat producing purposes. 
Then there is a long list of vegetables, many of which 
afford good nutritious food, as peas, beans, cabbage, 
cauliflower, okra, tomatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, 
celery, beets, lettuce, spinach, asparagus, and many 
others. Some of these vegetables can be used all the 
year through, and if plainly prepared and served with- 
out too much seasoning, assist the dietary very much. 

Lastly, there is an almost endless list of fruits, some of 
which should constitute a portion of every meal in the 
year. The apple, which stands at the head of the list 



T40 Htiman Dcvclopvient and Progress. 

of^ fruits in all temperate climates, may be kept the 
entire year, either in its natural state, or dried, and as 
an article of diet, it unquestionably stands next to the 
cereals in importance. When we consider the number- 
less ways it can be prepared for the table, there certainly 
need be no lack of variety of foods on our tables. But 
here as in all other cases, the nearer the natural state 
they are eaten, the better. If cooking is deemed es- 
sential, let the whole apple with its skin on, be placed 
in the oven and baked, then eaten with milk and sugar 
if preferred, or what is better, it may be used with soft 
boiled crushed wheat. 

A great amount of the nutrition of the apple and 
potato is lost by paring, as the albuminoid material is 
immediately beneath, and closely adherent to the outer 
skin. Potatoes especially, should never be pared before 
they are cooked. If they are intended to be mashed, 
boil with the skin on, then peel them carefully and 
mash, and all the nutritive properties will be preserved 
along with the natural flavor of the potato. 

Next to the apple in importance as an article of food 
among the fruits, comes the pear, which like the apple, 
can be had in its natural state almost the entire year. 
Then we have the luscious peach, plum, grape, and all 
the varieties of the berry family, together with the 
great amount of fruits raised in tropical climates, and 
shipped to the countries farther north. 

It has been questioned by some whether fruits or 
vegetables were healthy where they could not be grown ; 
but there is no question but what almost all the trop- 
ical fruits are beneficial in temperate climates. During 
the hot season nothing can be more grateful to a hungry 
palate than a dish of sliced oranges well sugared, either 



Hmnaii DcvclopDicnt and Progress. 141 

for dinner or supper. And the date, fig and banana, 
are all good nutritious food for any and every climate. 

Then let fruits of some kind constitute a portion of 
every meal in the entire year, along with some of the 
cereal grains, plainly prepared, and some seasonable 
vegetables, and the system will get all the nutrition it 
requires ; the appetite will be completely satisfied, and 
there will be no craving or hankering for artificial stim- 
ulants. Nor will the blood be poisoned by impurities, 
or the system surfeited with hydro-carbonaceous sub- 
stances, as it but too frequently is, when fat meats and 
white flour bread constitutes the principal part of the 
diet. 

And let me say to those who think they cannot live 
without meats and coffee, and stimulating condiments, 
just drop all these articles from the evening meal, and 
make your suppers on wheat meal mush, or cracked 
wheat with some stewed fruit, or oatmeal gruel and 
milk, and see if the sleep is not much more quiet and 
refreshing ; then you will soon be prepared to take 
another step toward right living, and drop the meats 
and white flour foods from the breakfast or dinner. 
But it would not be best for the laboring man to drop 
flesh foods altogether and continue the white flour 
foods, as the system will not get sufficient albuminose 
material to supply all its wants during the period of 
active manhood ; this is a mistake made by too many 
persons in this country. 

Many persons have honestly endeavored to abandon 
the use of all flesh foods, but finding their strength and 
health fail, they give up in dispair and conclude that 
meats are a necessity of life. As before remarked, a 
constant use of flesh foods for many generations may 



142 Iliinian Developmeiit and Progress. 

have so perverted the system in some cases that it will 
not tolerate enough vegetable food to keep up the vital 
power to the healthy standard, and to all such persons 
meats have become a necessity of life. But the custom 
of frying meats can be and should be abandoned at 
once. Nothing is more destructive to health than fried 
grease, as the process of frying converts the grease into 
fatty acids that are extremely pernicious, and such foods 
should never be indulged in by anyone. Then, let the 
meats be boiled or roasted, or what is preferable, 
steamed, by the new process recently introduced in this 
country. There are several of these steam cookers now 
in use in different parts of the country that are really 
excellent contrivances, not only for cooking meats, but 
most vegetables and fruits (if the fruits must be cooked 
at all); and if they can be made to supplant the frying- 
pan, a great stride will have been made in the direction 
of reform. 

But the great study of the people of this country is 
the accumulation of wealth, and then the expenditure 
of it in riotous living ; and the man who can make the 
grandest display in all the departments of life, is the 
universal favorite in society. All the higher principles 
that constitute true manhood and womanhood are 
entirely overlooked and forgotten in the struggle for 
show and glitter And yet there is no one who has 
been a student of history, but has observed the fact, 
that just such a course of life as we are adopting was 
the means of bringing about the downfall of all the 
great nations of antiquity. Lord Byron has most forci- 
bly expressed the same thought in these words : 

"Here is the moral of all human tales, 
"Tis but the same rehearsal of the past— 



IIuDUDi DcvclopDicut und Pvogicss. 1 43 

First freedom and then glory— when that fails 
Wealth, vice, corruption, barbarism at last, 
And History, with all her volumes vast, 
Hath but one page." 

In order that iny country may not fill a niche in that 
one page of history, I would have my countrymen 
abandon this false and pernicious system of living, and 
adopt a plainer and simpler mode, in harmony with the 
true physiological laws. There is no other course of 
life that can by any possibility bring satisfactory results. 
Plainness and simplicity in all things is evidently the 
normal condition of man, and every departure from the 
physiological laws that God has marked out for man's 
guidance, must be attended with disastrous results. 

And now, let me appeal again to the mothers, for 
this food question and home life has special reference to 
them. Almost every thing that gives a charm and 
pleasure to home life must pass through woman's plastic 
fingers, and receive from her its finishing touches, 
before it is in condition to make glad the happy home. 
And especially is this true in relation to foods ; for the 
husband may furnish his larder with every edible sub- 
stance known, and unless the wife is qualified to prepare 
and shape an inviting and wholesome repast from the 
material provided, suitable to be converted into brain 
and muscle, bone and sinew, the ample provision of the 
husband will be in vain. 

Dear mothers, how many of you are qualified to 
prepare such a repast, upon true scientific principles, 
and in accordance with the true physiological laws. No 
question is demanding more earnest and immediate 
attention of the women of this nation than that of the 
proper preparation of foods for the people. The whole 
question needs to be thoroughly investigated and built 



144 llimuDi J\'velopnicnt and Progress. 

up on true and correct scientific principles. A matter 
of such vast importance to the welfare of the people 
should not be left under the control of those who have 
no knowledge of the real wants of the human system, 
and whose sole ambition is to feed and foster a morbid 
and unnatural appetite. 

There are two great errors that have crept into Ameri- 
can society that are doing incalculable mischief, which 
need the earliest attention and thought of the mothers 
of our land. The one is, that most any kind of food 
will do for the every-day family meal, provided there is 
no expectation of company; the other is, the special 
and extravagant preparation for company when expected. 
In relation to the first of these errors, let me impress 
upon you, mothers, that it is the every-day family meals 
that build up and develop the physique and character 
of the individual and family, and these should be 
specially provided for, and made full and complete in 
every particular. And when the wants of the human 
system are thoroughly understood, all the regular 
family meals can be easily prepared, and with but little 
labor ; for mothers must learn the fact that the nutrition 
exists in the articles she uses in their natural state, and 
the labor she bestows upon them can do nothing more 
than to increase their digestibility by addmg to their 
flavor, and thus inciting the appetite and increasing the 
flow of the digestive fluids. But this must be carefully 
done, or the character of the proximate principles of 
the foods will be changed, and the value of the food 
material destroyed. 

The second error to which I allude, the extravagant 
preparation for company when expected, is even more 
mischievous in its effects upon the health of those who 



Huvia/i Dcvclopmoit and Progress. 145 

partake of the great amount of rich, high-seasoned 
foods provided for them ; and besides it acts as a great 
barrier to the propagation of the social principle. 

To such an extent is this custom carried in this coun- 
try that many ladies exhaust their entire stock of vital 
force in the preparation of a single meal for their guests, 
when the same amount of proper food might have been 
prepared with very little labor, and that would have 
supplied the wants of the system better. 

But the most ruinous phase of this custom is exhib- 
ited on festival occasions of various kinds. With fam- 
ilies that are accustomed to give dinners to large num- 
bers of invited guests on these occasions, there are days 
of anxious labor spent in the preparation, and when the 
day arrives, all the vital force of the entire household 
is brought into requisition to complete the arrangements, 
and the guests must be left to enjoy themsel^^es with 
the reflection that their dinner, when it is placed upon 
the table, has cost too much of the precious life forces 
of the family, to be enjoyable, and all social feeling is 
taken out of the occasion. 

And worse than all, the great amount of rich hydro- 
carbonaceous foods must produce disturbance of the di- 
gestive system of those even who are accustomed to 
their use, and as the dinners on such occasions are gen- 
erally later in the day than the regular dinner hour, too 
much is eaten by almost every one, and many a case of 
apoplexy can be traced back to these festive occasions. 
The distinguished author, "Box," was stricken down 
while at the table on an occasion of this kind. 

But not only does the health suffer from all this elabo- 
rate display of the culinary art, but the social principle 
is also affected by it. One lady hardly thinks of visit- 
20 



146 IIiniuDi Development and Pf ogress. 

ing her neighbor without sending her word in advance, 
in order that all the elaborate style in the culinary art 
that fashion demands, may be prepared for her recep- 
tion. Hence, an affair that should have been pleasant 
and profitable to both parties, has been irksome and 
unsatisfactory to the visitor, and laborious and exhaust- 
ing to the host ; the grand object of visiting — the 
social intercourse of friends and neighbors — has been 
prevented on account of the host's time being taken in 
the preparation of the meal. When will American 
mothers learn that foods are needed only for the pur- 
pose of building up a vigorous organism, and supplying 
its daily waste, and to answer this purpose the plainest 
and simplest foods are required ? Certainly the visitor 
has no special want that requires all this exhausting 
preparation. And while visitors should receive the 
most respectful attention of the host, yet neither friend- 
ship or good breeding requires a slavish adhesion to a 
vicious custom that is injurious alike to host and visitor, 
and which is destructive to the social principle. 

Buf the great practical question for the consideration 
of American women is, how can reform be brought 
about. No one woman can stand up against the pres- 
sure that would be brought to bear against her, should 
she attempt to reform society, single handed and alone. 
Perhaps no more powerful means can be hit upon, than 
the adoption of reform cooking clubs. Let but a few 
of the leading women of any community unite them- 
selves together in an association of this kind, and go to 
work in good earnest to bring about genuine reform in 
housekeeping, and especially in the culinary depart- 
ment ; and adopting a missionary spirit, seek to infuse 
the true way of life among the people, and soon their 



Hiduan DcvclopDicfit cvui Progress. 147 

influence will become contagious and spread over the 
land. 

That associations of this kind, if largely adopted, 
would soon produce a marked effect upon the health 
and morals of the people, there is no question. And 
certainly there never was more pressing need of reform 
than the present. But let those who engage in this 
work bear in mind, that the essential purpose of food is 
to build up a pure and healthy organism, by keeping 
the blood supplied with all the proximate principles 
needed for this purpose. But there is another matter 
of equal importance that is too often overlooked, and 
that is, the food must contain no substance that will 
build up imperfect tissues, or injuriously effect the 
perfect working of the organism. • 

To give a familiar illustration, we know the organism 
requires water for the performance of all its functions ; 
but suppose we conclude to furnish what water is needed 
in the system in the shape of old-fashioned ''grog" 
(whisky and water). Now here the alcohol, fusil oil, and 
other extraneous substances in the whisky, will find their 
way into the current of the blood along with the water, 
and will produce very injurious effects. The same 
result will follow if we conclude to take what water the 
system needs in the form of a decoction of coffee and tea. 

The active principle of these substances being held 
in solution in the water, enter the blo6d along with the 
water, and circulating through the brain, they produce 
an unnatural stimulation to the whole nervous system. 
According to Prof. Lehman, an eminent German au- 
thority, caffeine, the active principle of coffee, adminis- 
tered in doses of two to ten grains, causes violent 
excitement of the circulatory and nervous systems, 



14^ Human Dcvelopiuoit and Progress. 

palpitations of the heart, extraordinary frequency and 
irregularity, and often intermission of the pulse, oppres- 
sion of the chest, pains in the head, confusion of the 
senses, singing in the ears, sleeplessness and delirium. 

Then, the active principle of tea, while not producing 
so much effect upon the general circulation of the blood, 
is even more disastrous in its effects upon the nervous 
system than coffee ; and the excessive nervousness of 
our American women in too many instances can be 
traced to their extravagant use of this beverage with 
their regular meals. 

The amount of nutrition contained in coffee and tea 
is extremely small, and neither of them would be used 
for their nutrient properties, nor do they supply the 
system with any needed proximate principle. Their 
extended use over so large a portion of the civilized 
world, has the same origin as the use of spirituous 
liquors, and in fact, of all artificial stimulants. The 
food partaken of not fully supplying all the wants of 
the system, a craving is left that must be satisfied, 
either with more appropriate food, that will rebuild the 
vital force as fast as consumed, or with some artificial 
stimulant, that will goad up the life forces already in 
the system to the same standard of action they would 
have if properly supported. 

This takes away the unnatural craving as long as the 
effect of artificial^ stimulant will last, when it returns 
with constantly increasing force ; and hence, coffee and 
tea drinking is just as firmly fastened upon the American 
people as is beer drinking upon the German and Eng- 
lish people. And both of these articles are stronger 
nervous stimulants, and neither contains as much nutri- 
tion as does the German or English beer ; and to attempt 



Ihnnaji Dri'clopnicnt and Proorcss. 149 

to deprive the German in this countr)-, of his accustomed 
beverage by prohibitory legislation, and still allow the 
native American the unlimited use of a stronger stimu- 
lant, and one more injurious to the nervous system, is 
not ver\' consistent, nor is it likely to be successful. In 
fact, no reform can come to this nation until we have a 
better dietary, consisting mostly of the grains and vege- 
tables and fruits of the earth, and the people are 
educated to eat their food, and not drink it, as is now 
done. 

Man must learn that his teeth were provided for the 
purpose of chewing his food, and the salivary glands of 
his mouth to furnish a fluid to moisten the food before 
being swallowed into the stomach. But so long as man 
takes large portions of fluid of any kind along with his 
foods, these glands will not produce the necessary sol- 
vent of the food, and imperfect digestion must be the 
result. 

This want of proper mastication and insalivation 
explains why so many persons feel they cannot live 
without flesh foods. Meats contain no starch, and but 
very little sugar ; and as the saliva acts only upon these 
amyloid substances, a mere tearing of the fibres of the 
meat, sufficient to enable it to be swallowed, is all suffi- 
cient, and the gastric juice of the stomach will melt it 
down. Hence anatomists have found that the carnivora 
that live entirely upon flesh foods have their teeth and 
jaws arranged specially for the process of tearing, while 
their salivary glands are extremely small. The herbiv- 
ora, or vegetable feeders, on the contrary, have their 
teeth and jaws arranged for grinding, and have immense 
salivary glands. Some of this class of animals, as the 
cow, have an extra stomach, into which the food is 



150 Hinnan Dcvelopiiicnt and Prooyess. 

swallowed while the animal is feeding, after which, by 
the process of eructation, it is brought up into the 
mouth again, when it is thoroughly chewed and m.ixed 
with the saliva and then swallowed fnto the second 
stomach, where it comes in contact with the gastric 
juice. 

Now, as man is provided with teeth suitable for 
grinding his food, and has large salivary glands, which 
secrete a great amount of saliva, to moisten the mass 
and act on the starch and sugar, it is evident that to 
use liquid substances along with the food is to do vio- 
lence to a physiological law, and those that do so must 
suffer the consequences. Is it not also strong presumptive 
evidence that the cereals, vegetables and fruits, which 
contain starch and sugar, are the natural food of man ? 
and that such a diet, if properly prepared and eaten, 
will produce the highest development man is capable of 
reaching ? 

How important then that all mothers and house- 
keepers strive to comprehend the true physiological laws, 
in order that they may be qualified to prepare a dietary in 
harmony with these laws. If a purer and higher devel- 
opment of man is ever to be reached, it must be done 
through obedience to the true physiological laws of life. 

Let me mention another violation of physiological 
law, which is more frequently practiced perhaps than 
any other, and that is eating between the regular meals ; 
especially the eating of fruits at such times. Now in 
order to give the digestive organs full time to digest the 
foods and repair the destructive metamorphosis that 
takes place in the digestive organs as the result of their 
work, at least six hours should intervene between the 
times of eating. If additional foods be thrown into the 



k 



Human Dcvelopnioit and Progress. 151 

stomach, while it is engaged in the process of digestion, 
the regular process is very greatly disturbed, and can- 
not be perfectly completed. If it is acid fruits that 
are eaten during this time, the acids of the fruits will 
unquestionably cause disturbances in the alimentary 
canal, and diarrhoea, *'sour stomach," etc., will be the 
result. And then the blame is usually laid upon the 
fruit, which will be pronounced unhealthy, when the 
whole fault is in the time and manner of eating it. 

If man will eat nutritious foods only, and obey the 
physiological laws in the mode of eating, three meals a 
day are all sufficient, and there will be no craving for 
foods or stimulants between the meals. And if good 
ripe fruits are properly eaten as a part of every regular 
meal, and at such times only, the health and morals of 
the people will be greatly improved thereby. 

The physical organism requires certain definite prox- ' 
imate principles in proper porportions to meet all its 
wants, and while it is not possible or perhaps desirable 
to furnish these proximate principles in an absolutely 
pure state ; yet they must not contain extraneous sub- 
stances that can be acted on by the digestive fluids in 
such a way as to enable them to enter the blood along 
with the needed proximate principles. If such takes 
place, these extraneous substances circulating through 
the body with the blood, cause disturbances in all the 
natural functions of the body. Of course, different ex- 
traneous substances thus introduced into the system, 
produce different deleterious effects according to their 
nature, some of them effecting muscular action, some 
disturbing mental action, and some the general nutrition 
of the body. 

How beautifully the true physiological laws of life 



152 I finnan Development and Progress. 

work out their legitimate results in man, when he prop- 
erly understands and obeys them. What wonderful 
wisdom, power, and grandeur are manifested in these 
laws ; and what an attractive study they should be to 
man, whose well being in time and in eternity is so in- 
timately connected with his bringing his life in conform- 
ity to them. For if these laws are not obeyed, there is 
no means of escape from the penalty that attaches to 
their violation. These penalties are just as orderly and 
certain, as that any other effect will follow its legitimate 
cause. And how is it possible that man, endowed as 
he is with reasoning faculties, can contentedly live out 
all his days in utter ignorance of these laws, seem- 
ing to care nothing for the laws or their consequences, 
or taking no interest in anything but the gratification of 
the morbid appetites and propensities he has inherited 
from his ancestors, or warmed into life by his own earlieii 
vicious indulgences. How poor a recompense is this for 
all the wonderful gifts bestowed upon man ; how little 
is such a life above that of the brutes that perish. 

Before closing this chapter, let me present the claims 
of a plain and simple diet, by referring to some remarka- 
ble examples in the history of other times and peoples. 

The Roman army, in the time when it was considered 
almost invincible, and when its feats of bravery and 
prowess were world renowned, lived almost entirely 
upon wheat ; and not until after the Roman soldier be- 
came a flesh eater did Roman valor begin to decline. 
" When the public games of ancient Greece — for the ex- 
ercise of muscular power and activity in wrestling, boxing, 
running, &c., — were first instituted, the athletae, in ac- 
cordance with the common dietetic habits of the people, 
were trained entirely on vegetable foods."* 



HiDfuvi DcvclopDiciit and Progress. 153 

"I have made several voyages to St. Petersburgh in 
Russia," says Capt. C. S. Rowland, of New Bedford, 
Mass. ''The people of Russia generally subsist, for the 
most part, on coarse, black rye bread and garlics. The 
bread is exceedingly coarse, sometimes containing 
almost whole grains ; and it is very hard and dry. I 
have often hired men to labor for me in Russia ; which 
they would do from sixteen to eighteen hours and ' find 
themselves ' for eight cents a day, the sun shining there 
sometimes for twenty hours in the day. They would 
come on board in the morning with a piece of their 
black bread weighing about one pound, and a bunch of 
garHcs as big as one's fist. This is all their nourish- 
ment for the day of sixteen or eighteen hours labor. 
They were astonishingly powerful and active ; and en- 
dured severe and protracted labor far beyond any of 
my men. Some of these men were eighty, and even 
ninety years old ; and yet these old men would do more 
work than any of the middle aged men belonging to 
my ship. In handling and stowing away irons, and 
in stov/ing away hemp with the jack-screw, they exhib- 
ited most astonishing power. They were full of 
agility, vivacity, and even hilarity ; singing as they 
labored, with all the buoyancy and blithesomeness of 
youth." 

''The Polish and Hungarian peasants from the Car- 
pathian mountains," says a young Polish nobleman, "are 
among the most active and powerful men in the world ; 
they live almost entirely on oatmeal bread, and potatoes." 

"With respect to the Moorish porters of Spain," 
says Capt. C. F. Chase, of Providence, R. I., "I have 
witnessed the exceedingly large loads they are in the 
habit of carrying ; and have been struck with astonish- 

21 



I 54 Ihnnan Dcvclopine)it and Progress. 

ment at their muscular powers. Others of the laboring 
class, particularly those who are in the habit of work- 
ing on board of ships, and called in that country steve- 
dores, are also very powerful men. I have seen two of 
these men stow off a full cargo of brandy and wine in 
casks, after it was hoisted on board and lowered into 
the hold, apparently with as much ease as two American 
sailors would stow away a cargo of beef and pork. 
They brought their food on board with them, which 
consisted of coarse brown wheat bread and grapes."* 

But it is useless to multiply examples of this kind, as 
every page of history teaches the same lesson. In 
looking over the rise and downfall of all the nations 
that have figured in the world's history, we can see that 
the rise and progressive development of them all, was 
limited to the time their people lived on a plain and 
simple dietary of fruits and vegetables ; but that their 
decline began as soon as their people commenced to 
ransack the animal kingdom for foods 

That my nation may continue to rise and flourish in 
her greatness, and that man here may be brought to the 
highest state of development his nature is capable of 
reaching, I would have the people go back to a plain 
and simple dietary of the grains and fruits and vegetable 
productions of the earth, and in all respects truly live in 
harmony with nature's laws. If the teaching of history 
is of any worth, certainly there is no other road to 
national renown than this. The decline of the physical 
stamina of the people will always be accompanied with 
a loosening of the public morals. ''Mens sana in cor- 
pore sano' — a sound mind in a sound body — must be 

* John Smith's Best Pood for Man. 



Huviaii DevclopDicut and Pi'ogrcss. i 5 5 

the foundation upon which the greatness of nations and 
peoples must be reared. But there can be neither a 
sound mind or sound body if the blood is not kept pure 
and uncontaminated, as it never can be if the people 
live upon a dietary of rich hydro-carbonaceous foods. 



\ 



I 



CHAPTER X. 



Development of the Brain and Nervous Sj-stem — The Brain Made 
Up of Two Sorts of Material — The Gray Substance Necessarj- 
To Mental Force — The White Substance Makes Up the Nervous 
Trunks — Impurities in the Blood Affectino: the Brain — Unstable 
Condition of the Brain Substance — Bain on the Properties of 
Matter and Mind — LeConte on the Derivation of Vital Force — 
Chang;es in the Chemical, Physical and Vital Forces— All Matter 
Exists in Four Planes — Changes of Force From a Lower to a 
Higher Plane— Physiology of the Mental and Moral Powers — 
Physical Condition Necessary to Mental Action — Exercise of 
The Mental Powers Indispensable to Mental Development — 
Necessity of Pure Environment — Proper Cultivation and Train- 
ing. 

WE now enter upon the most interesting and im- 
portant branch of our subject — the physiological 
laws that bring about the growth and development of 
the mental and moral faculties of man. The investiga- 
tion of physiologists have conclusively established the 
fact that brain development, is essential to mental devel- 
opment, and that the action of the mind is always 
attended with destructive metamorphosis of brain tissue 
— that the phosphates, separated from the blood by the 
kidneys, is derived from the oxydation of the brain and 
nervous structures, and these phosphates are always 
found in greatest abundance in the urine after severe 
mental labor. 

It will therefore be necessary for the reader to have 



Ihonaii Develop})ic}it and Progress. 157 

some idea of the anatomy and physiology of the brain and 
nervous system, which I will give in language suffi- 
ciently plain to be comprehended by all who read these 
pages. 

If we were to carefully take out the entire brain of 
man and cut off a slice from one side to the other, we 
would recognize at once that it was made up of two 
sorts of material, a white and gray substance ; and if we 
were prepared to give it a microscopical examination, we 
would find the gray substance to consist of innumer- 
able little cells, .massed together, but a single cell is too 
small to be seen by the naked eye. This gray substance 
is spread out over the outer surface of the brain and 
inner surface of the spinal marrow, and also small por- 
tions of it at the surface end* of sentient nerves in all 
parts of the body. The white substance we would find to 
consist of myriads of little white threads, or fibres, each 
one of which is also too small to be seen by unaided 
vision. These little white threads run everywhere into 
and through the masses of gray substance, and by the 
union of several of them together, they form the nerve 
trunks that run through the entire physical body, and 
connect all parts of it to the great nervous center, the 
brain and spinal marrow. 

Our microscopical examination will also reveal another 
anatomical feature not strictly connected with the 
nervous structure, but yet essential to the production of 
nervous force — we find the gray substances everywhere 
studded with little capillary blood vessels, which are 
also too small to be seen without the aid of the micro- 
scope. 

Now whenever nervous force is required, the oxygen 
in the blood in these little capillary tubes chemically 



I 5 8 Huvm7i Dcvclopvieiit atid Progress. 

unites with the elements of the cells of the gray sub- 
stance, and nervous force is evolved and is carried by 
the nerve trunks to whatever part of the system the 
force is to operate. 

The reader will here observe that the production of 
nervous force takes place in the gray matter of the 
nervous structure, and the production of the force 
brings about the destruction of the portion of gray 
substance that produced it. The chemical union of the 
elements of the little cells with the oxygen brought to 
them by the little capillary vessels, destroys the life of 
the cells, and the new compounds formed with the 
oxygen are now effete matter, and must be carried out 
of the system by the depurative organs. 

These facts seem to be conclusively established, that all 
mental manifestations are brought about by and through 
physical changes in the substance of the brain ; that all 
mental action of which w^e have any knowledge, effect 
certain well known changes in the substance of the 
brain itself. And in order that any mental action may 
take place, the brain structure must present certain well 
defined conditions — that is, it must have a gray sub- 
stance made up of little nucleated cells of definite com-, 
position and structure, and little capillary blood tubes 
containing pure oxygenated blood, and the white sub- 
stance made up of little white threads of fibres. With- 
out these peculiar substances there can be no mental 
action so far as we know. 

But another fact: the character of the mental action 
is found to be determined by the condition of these 
physical structures ; that is, the little cells of the gray 
matter must have the definite composition and arrange- 
ment of true brain substance, and the blood in the little 



li.. 



Human J^vdopincnt and Progress. i 59 

capillaries must contain the necessary amount of free 
oxygen to produce the destructive metamorphosis, 
and the nutrient material to replace the cells of the 
gray substance which is broken down by the mental effort. 
But if the blood contains extraneous substances capa- 
ble of effecting the brain at all, it must result in dis- 
turbed mental action ; for normal action can be pro- 
duced in no other way than by the action of pure 
oxygenated blood on the pure nucleated cells of the 
gray substance of the brain. 

I am aware of the great difficulty in giving clear 
demonstrative evidence of this, but there are some rec- 
ognized physiological facts that go far to prove it. No 
one will dispute the fact, that alcoholic liquors when 
taken into the system in sufficient quantities, will cause 
disturbances of the mental powers ; and the experiments 
of Dr. Carpenter and other physiologists have proven 
beyond question, that the disturbance is the result of 
the stimulation of the alcohol upon the gray substance 
of the cerebral mass, while circulating through it in the 
capillaries. A great many other substances taken as 
medicines, are known to produce mental disturbances 
in the same way. 

Again, there are poisonous substances sometimes float- 
ing in the atmosphere, and these may find their way into 
the blood by being inhaled ; and similar substances sus- 
pended in the drinking water find their way into the 
blood through that channel, and these produce various 
well known diseases which are accompanied with mental 
derangements ; and in all these cases the mental de- 
rangement is known to be the result of the actions the 
impurities in the blood produce upon the gray struct- 
ure of the brain. 



i6o I finnan Dcvelopnient and Progress. 

The bad ventilation of houses is found to be a fre- 
quent cause of blood poisoning, and the consequent 
mental disturbances; and it has been said that the Hall 
of the House of Representatives at Washington is so 
badly ventilated, that members of Congress are actually 
poisoned by the foul air. Now, long before, serious 
illness is produced by the inhalations of such an atmos- 
phere, the effect must be seriously felt by the delicate 
organism of the brain, and the mental and moral 
powers become seriously deranged. 

And if we carry out this thought to the bad ventila- 
tion of churches, lecture rooms and halls of justice, and 
even to dwelling houses where the mass of the people 
spend the most of their time, is it any wonder that the 
mental and moral manifestations of the people are so 
often deranged ? If we will look at the condition of 
the criminal classes in any of the great cities, the causes 
of the criminal tendencies of the people are plain enough 
to be seen. 

In the closely packed, ill-ventilated tenement houses 
of New York city, where there are more people to the 
square mile than in almost any other city on the globe, 
and where the subject of ventilation has never been 
thought of, is it any wonder that in such a locality 
crime and immorality reign supreme? 

Then again the blood may acquire injurious sub- 
stances directly from the use of improper foods and 
drinks. This is perhaps the most prolific source of 
those derangements in the blood that produce mental 
and moral disturbances ; but any and every abnormal 
product that finds its way into the blood and circulates 
throughout the delicate organism of the brain, will in- 
evitably disturb the normal action of the mental and 



Huinaji Dci'clopDioit and Progress. i6i 

moral faculties. This is the physiological law, and 
there is no escaping its consequences. 

The rationale of deranged mental action from impurities 
in the blood is to be found in the unstable condition of 
all organic compounds, and the very small disturbance 
required to cause perversion from their normal action. 
Take the proximate principles in healthy blood, and a 
very little impurity will change their sensible properties 
and render them unfit to fill their normal functions. A 
very httle thickening of the blood will greatly obstruct 
its passages through the little capillary blood tubes, and 
thus hinder and retard the necessary organic changes 
that should take place between the blood in these 
minute tubes, and the tissues through which it passes. 
Hence, whenever a thickened condition of the blood ex- 
ists, it will always tend to obstruct the functional activity 
of the organism ; and obstructed brain function means 
slugglish, stupid action of the mental and moral 
powers. 

During mental activity, there is always accelerated 
action through the little capillary blood tubes of the 
brain ; while during sleep there is but little action 
going on in these minute vessels. Who is there, that 
has not experienced a dull stupid feeling after eating a 
full meal of rich flesh foods, or any other rich carbon- 
aceous food? And just here, in the thickened condition 
of the blood, brought about by excessive eating of im- 
proper foods, is to be found the most prolific source of 
deranged blood circulation, and from it may be traced a 
Jarge proportion of the physical, mental and moral evils 
that exist in society. 

While the unstable condition of the proximate prin- 
ciples found in the blood renders it necessary to ex- 

99 



1 62 thivimi Devclopi}ie7it and Progress. 

ercise the greatest care that an abnormal condition be 
not produced, yet were it not for this unstable con- 
dition, the necessary chemical changes that produce all 
the vital and mental force evolved by the human 
organism, could not exist. But in order to have these 
forces manifested in their purity, the necessary con- 
ditions must always be present in the system, and these 
it is the province of man to supply. 

And another fact must be borne in mind, that the 
more complex and complicated the organic compound, 
or structure, the more prone it is to change — the more 
liable to enter into new combinations producing varying 
results. Consequently the brain and nervous structures 
in man, being more complex in their structure than any 
other organic compound, the tendency to enter into new 
combinations is extremely great The phosphoric 
acid and sulphur, that form the distinguishing elements 
of brain substance, are specially liable to oxidation 
under favorable conditions, thus liberating nervous force 
of some kind ; for it is by the oxidation of the unstable 
brain structure that all nervous and mental force is 
evolved. And let me say right here, that no force of 
any kind is created by man or in him. The force of 
whatever kind, manifested by man, is stored up in the 
various tissues of his organism ; and the oxidation of 
these tissues thus liberates the force displayed. 

For example, the oxidation of the muscular tissue 
always liberates muscular force ; the oxidation of the 
sugar and fat in blood will always disengage heat ; 
while the oxidation of the nervous structures will lib- 
erate nervous energy or mental power, depending upon 
the portion of the brain or nervous structure oxidized. 

I am aware that this linking of mind with body ; this 



I 



HuDiaii Dcvelopviciit and Progress. 163 

attempt to measure the extent of mental and moral 
action by the physical changes that take place in the 
brain, may seem irreverent as well as irrational. But 
certainly, if the mental manifestations of man take 
place only in connection with the physical phenomena 
named, it is showing no want of respect to the Diety to 
so declare it, nor can it be considered irrational. In 
whatever way God has ordained the physiological laws 
that operate upon man, it is certainly man's duty to 
endeavor to understand and accept with due humility, 
and obey with perfect confidence. 

As Dr. Bain has so beautifully said, ' ' are we to 
enunciate as a property of matter, that a certain highly 
complicated rfiaterial mass can be associated with mind ; 
and as a property of mind, that it is found in alliance 
with a material body ? Surely if such be the fact, we 
are at liberty to declare it. May we then call it a 
mystery? In a certain sense we may." It is a 
fact isolated and unique, if we look at matter gen- 
erally ; but it is yet of wide prevalence, if we com- 
bine the number of individuals of the human race 
wdth the still greater number of the lower animals. 
The repetition of it over so wide a field, redeems the 
mystery, although it does not take away the bold con- 
trast between the animal nature on the one hand, and 
plants and minerals on the other. The mystery will be 
still farther reduced if we can resolve the connection 
as stated in gross, to separate and specific laws of con- 
nection. This would be a step of genuine enlighten- 
ment in any department of nature. We accept the 
union as a fact, just as we accept any other union — 
heat with light, magnetism with the sesqui-oxide of 
iron, gravity with inert matter. We then endeavor 



164 Hiivian Dcvelopjiicnt and Progress. 

to express it in its simplest terms, or under the most 
comprehensive laws. Let us resolve into the highest 
possible generality the connection of pleasures and 
pains with all the physical stimulants of the senses, with 
all the suggestions of thought, with all the external 
manifestations in feature, gesture, movement, and secre- 
tion. When this is done we shall have resolved one 
part of the mystery by the only mode of resolution 
that the case admits of. Let us go farther if we can ; 
let us generalize the connections of thought or intellect 
with nervous and other processes — find out what phys- 
ical basis specifically belongs to memory, to reason, 
to imagination, and what are the most general state- 
ment of the relationship ; we shall then fully and suffi- 
ciently explain the alliance of mind and body in the 
sphere of intellect. There is no other explanation need- 
ful, no other competent, no other would be explanation." 

Then let us hear no more of the charge of a want of 
respect for Deity, when we endeavor to trace the laws 
He has impressed upon the human organism, whether 
those laws relate to the physical body, or to the opera- 
tions of the mind and moral nature. Certainly we are 
more derelict of duty when we contentedly remain 
ignorant of these laws, and suffer the tremendous con- 
sequences entailed upon us by their constant violations. 

As far as science can explain the actions and re- 
actions of the vital force, and the elementary sub- 
stances which make up their proximate principles that 
exist in all organized bodies, the facts have been very 
clearly stated by Prof. LeConte in a paper on the cor- 
relation of vital with chemical and physical forces. 
The leading principles I will state in as few words as 
will enable me to explain the subject. 



Hitman Devclop))ic}it and Progress. 165 

Vital force is derived from the lower forces of na- 
ture ; it is related to other forces as much as these are 
related to each other ; it is correlated with chemical and 
physical forces. The explanation is simple enough : 
that force as well as matter is indestructible — can be 
changed, but never destroyed. For example, if two 
cannon balls, of equal weight, and travelling in space 
with equal velocity, strike each other, they will fall 
motionless to the earth ; and it would seem that the im- 
mense force exerted by the two balls was really de- 
stroyed. But not so ; it is only changed into heat. 
The exact amount of heat can be calculated from the 
size and velocity of the balls; and this heat can be 
changed back again to an equal amount of force that 
was manifested by the balls when they came together. 
Thus the force was not destroyed ; it was only changed 
from a visible to an invisible form. The change of 
physical into chemical, and these into vital forces are 
brought about in this way : 

"All matter exists in four planes: ist, the plane of 
elementary existence ; 2nd, the plane of chemical com- 
pounds, or the mineral kingdom ; 3d, the plane of vegeta- 
ble existence, or the vegetable kingdom ; and the 4th, 
the plane of animal existence, or the animal kingdom. 
Their relation to each other may be thus expressed : 

" IV. Animal Kingdom. 

** III. Vegetable Kingdom. 

" II. Mineral Kingdom. 

'' I. Elements." 

" Out of this first plane all the others are formed by 
a special force, whose function it is to raise matter from 
each plane to the plane above. 

* ' Now it seems that atoms, the smallest particles of No. 



1 66 Human Dcvclopiiioit and Progress. 

I, or elements, when just separated from previous com- 
binations, are endowed with powerful affinity for other 
atoms in the same state of separation. For example, 
when just freed from some combination, oxygen has a 
strong affinity for nitrogen, nitrogen for hydrogen, and 
hydrogen for carbon, and so on ; but these elementary 
substances show no affinity for each other when bound 
up in previous combinations ; but as soon as their 
release is effected, then the force of chemical affinity is 
ready to bind them into new combinations. 

"Thus we see that by the act of decomposition, force 
is generated for effecting new combinations. In the 
case of vegetable growth, by the decomposition of car- 
bonic acid, water and ammonia, all of which belong to 
No. 2, force is generated by which the matter of No. 
2 is raised to No. 3. It is now organized matter, and 
possessed of vital force , and when placed under proper 
conditions, the decomposition of the organic matter of 
No. 3, the force will be generated by which it may be 
raised to No. 4. 

' "Thus it appears that physical force, as light and heat, 
is first changed into chemical force by uniting the atoms 
of No. I , or elements, by which they are raised to No. 
2, or mineral, in which chemical force is stored. Now, 
by the decomposition of these atoms, when the neces- 
sary conditions are present, force is liberated that raises 
No. 2 to No. 3, and the chemical force that resided in 
No. 2 is changed into vital force in No. 3. And when 
all the essential conditions are present, the decomposi- 
tion of No. 3 liberates the force that raises No. 3 to 
No. 4, and the vital force is raised to nervous force, the 
characteristic force of animal and man." 

In producing all these various changes of force 



Human Dcvclopnuiit and Progress. 167 

from a lower to a higher plane, there must always be 
present certain invariable conditions ; but when these 
necessary conditions are present, the result is certain and 
unfailing. Such then is the law of the formation of or- 
ganic matter and organic force; and "it determines all 
the varieties of organic matter which we call tissues 
and organs, and all the varieties of organic force which 
we call functions." 

".In the growth of plants, the forces of the solar ray — 
heat and light — are expended in decomposing the car- 
bonic acid, water and ammonia, and in building up organ- 
ized tissues from their elements, rejecting what is not 
needed ; and when these organized tissues of the plant 
or vegetable are consumed either as fuel in the engine, 
or as food for animal or man, force is again liberated." 

As stated by Dr. Bain, " it is this animal combustion 
of the matter of plants — that is, the re-oxidation of car- 
bon, hydrogen, etc., that yields all the manifestations of 
power in the animal frame. In particular it maintains 
1st, a certain warmth or temperature of the whole or- 
ganism against the cooling power of surrounding space ; 
it maintains 2nd, mechanical energy, as muscular power; 
it maintains 3rd, nervous power, or a certain flow of 
the influences circulating through the nerves, which cir- 
culation of influence, besides reacting on the other 
animal processes, muscular, glandular, &c., has for its 
distinguishing concomitant, the mind." 

The objection may be raised against this description, 
that it is materialism pure and simple, and therefore 
cannot be true. But I have drawn the description 
almost entirely from the investigations of Dr. Bain and 
Prof. LeConte, both eminent scientists in this special 
field, and neither of whom are charged with being 



1 68 Hjiman Development and Progress. 

materialists, but on the contrary, both of them are 
arrayed against the materialistic views of certain German 
scientists who have made materialism the ground-work 
of their philosophy. All the investigations of these 
noble men have been directed to finding out the true 
physiological laws of life, and not for the promulgation 
of any theories concerning these laws. And there is 
no other way to arrive at the truth. 

The physiological laws of human development are as 
much God's laws as is i\\Q mojal code ; and it is man's 
duty to find out these laws and bring his life into 
harmony with them. How inconsistent for men 
claiming to be teachers of the people, and leaders in 
society, to live in open rebellion to these physiological 
laws, and make no effort to show their importance to 
the people ; and then under the garb of religion, to 
rail at those who are spending their whole Hfe's energies 
in finding out these laws, and imparting a knowledge 
of them to mankind. 

Let me say to parents, that ignorance of the true 
physiological laws of life on your part, is attended with 
most disastrous effects upon your children, and will 
stamp its evil influences upon generations yet unborn. 
There is no measuring the consequences that may 
follow the violation of the most simple of these physio- 
logical laws. One single act of disobedience may set on 
foot a train of evil influences, which will bring physical 
and moral ruin upon a whole family, and may be handed 
down through numberless generations. Why cannot 
parents see the importance of knowing the true physi- 
ological laws, and bring their own lives, and the lives 
of their children, in harmony with them. 



I 



Huuia)i Dcvclopnioit and Progress. 169 

Let us now turn our attention to the physiological 
laws which should guide the parent in the development 
of the mental and moral powers. We have found that 
in order to have purity of action in the mental and 
moral faculties of man, certain definite conditions of 
his organism must be secured; and that- whether 
these conditions are brought about in man's organism, 
rests upon his obedience to certain equally well defined 
physiological laws. These definite conditions are, that 
he shall have a brain made up of certain highly organ- 
ized, unstable proximate principles, of definite compo- 
sition and arrangement, and these proximate principles 
must be taken in the food he eats. But as his food can- 
not be procured in the exact condition of brain sub- 
stance, it must contain the special proximate principles 
the human organism can convert into brain substance. 
As the organism cannot make any of the elementary 
substances that exist in the brain, then the proximate 
principles that make up the food must contain all the 
elements required. 

And here nature has been most lavish in her provis- 
ion for man's development. We have found that the 
vegetable, with the aid of sunlight, has the power of 
decomposing certain mineral substances, and out of 
their elements building up just these highly organized 
unstable proximate principles required to build up the 
organism of man, with all its wonderful endowments. 
But man has not been content with this arrangement 
of nature ; he has thought out many inventions to 
tear down and destroy these highly organized sub- 
stances before he uses them as food. The miller sepa- 
.rates from the leading article of man's food — the wheat 
grain — the greater portion of the proximate principles 



170 H2nna)i DevelopmefU and Pfvgress. 

which are suited to build up the brain and nervous sys- 
tem, and leaves only the heat producing proximate 
principle for man's food. And now the housewife 
takes this imperfect food material; and by her manipula- 
tions destroys a portion of the food principle that is left, 
before it is given, by parents, as food to their children ; 
and when the result proves unsatisfactory, as it inevita- 
bly must, it is charged up to the natural depravity of man. 

Now dear parents, is it not time this irrational mode of 
living should come to an end ? Certainly you cannot 
fail to see that such a course is running counter to a 
plain physiological law, and that its consequences must 
be most disastrous to your children and to yourselves. 
And what have you gained in the operation ? You may 
say that the tastes of your family demand the white 
flour food, and you are therefore compelled to use it. 
But can you not see that it is a perverted taste, that long 
use of white flour foods has fastened upon your family ? 
and that the use of perfect foods for a time will beget a 
true taste that will enjoy such foods far more than the 
imperfect foods are now enjoyed ? 

Then, to obey the physiological law, you must use 
the highly organized proximate principles for food that 
nature has prepared, and that man's system requires, 
with only such change and manipulation as will aid their 
digestion and assimilation. All other tampering with 
foods is injurious and pernicious, and should be aban- 
doned at once and forever. A great proportion of the 
nutrition retained in the imperfect food provided for 
man is used up in the extra labor imposed on the organ- 
ism in their digestion and assimilation, and therefore 
cannot be used in producing either muscular or mental 
force. All substances used as food, that cannot be 



Hnifiau DevclopDiciit and Progress. 171 

utilized to Ipuild up and repair the perfect tissues of 
man's organism, or to supply it with heat, must either 
be carried out of the system unused, or used in the 
building of imperfect tissues. In either case bad re- 
sults must inevitably follow. 

To cast out the offensive material unused, will require 
effort on the part of certain organs ; and all effort of 
whatever kind, by any part of the organism, uses up the 
part making the effort ; and this used up material must 
be replaced by the use of suitable foods. But if the 
imperfect food material is used in tissue building, then 
imperfect tissues will result, and the oxidation of the 
imperfect tissue must produce imperfect function, 
whether physical, mental or moral. There is no vari- 
ableness in the workings of the physiological laws, and 
imperfect conditions can never yield perfect results. 

But the proper use of perfect food material is not the 
only condition required to secure perfect development 
of the mental and moral faculties. In order to have 
mental action at all, the blood must contain not only 
the necessary proximate principles to re-build the gray 
matter of the brain, but it must contain the nascent, or 
free oxygen, needed to break down the tissues. This 
nascent oxygen is taken from the inspired air by the 
blood in the little capillaries of the lungs ; and now in 
order that the lungs may take in sufficient oxygen, the 
air inhaled must be at least moderately pure, and the 
action of the lungs be unimpeded. If there is a great 
amount of impurity in the atmosphere, the lungs will 
instinctively refuse to expand to receive it, as every 
person has realized who has attempted to breathe an 
atmosphere laden with the smell of carrion. The same 
difficulty is experienced in breathing the atmosphere of 



172 Hiivian Development and Progress. 

a room where several persons are smoking strong 
tobacco. No person can breathe fully and perfectly in 
such an atmosphere, I care not how accustomed they 
are to the use of tobacco. The smoker himself cannot 
take deep and full inhalations while smoking, as his 
lungs will resist as much as possible the intrusion of the 
poisoned atmosphere. 

Hence inveterate smokers cannot be as active, vigor- 
ous thinkers as they would be if they did not use tobacco, 
and breathed only a pure atmosphere. But if they 
persist in using what vital force they can generate in 
such an atmosphere in mental effort, then will the other 
normal life functions suffer, and feeble health and short- 
ened days will be the result. But the same difficulty 
will occur in a pure atmosphere, if the full expansion 
of the lungs are prevented by any means, as tight cloth- 
ing, over-loading the stomach, etc. 

But there is nothing that produces such full and per- 
fect breathing, provided there is nothing in the way, as 
active, vigorous exercise in the open air ; and this is 
something that should be indulged in by every person 
who is not an invalid, for at least an hour every day ; 
and parents should see to it that their growing children 
have their hour's romp every day, unless the weather is 
too inclement to permit it. 

How intimately connected are all the physiological 
laws that relate to our well being, and how impossible 
it is to break any of them without disturbing the whole 
economy of life. And yet many persons will claim that 
because they obey the physiological laws in some direc- 
tions, and yet do not enjoy perfect health, that therefore 
correct living is of no avail. But if we would enjoy 
immunity from pains and suffering, we must bring our 



Human Devclopmoit a) id Pivgress. 173 

lives in full harmony with the physiological laws in all 
directions. 

Now, having determined the conditions required to 
secure perfect brain development, is there nothing more 
needed to bring out a high degree of mental and moral 
development ? If we have the perfect gray matter of 
the brain and the pure oxygenated blood, will the organ- 
ism run itself, so as to prevent the full development of 
the mental and moral faculties ? That such a system 
will develop in some direction, there is no question ; 
but in what direction, will depend upon several impor- 
tant conditions, as the environment, hereditary tenden- 
cies, cultivation, etc. If the individual has inherited an 
evil disposition, and all the tendencies of the environ- 
ment help to foster this evil disposition, then, in all 
probability, evil will predominate in such a life. 

And here comes in the duty of parents and the State 
to so shape the environment for the young that its 
tendency will always be towards fostering all good prin- 
ciples, instead of the evil. As civil government is made 
for the purpose of securing the greatest good to the 
greatest number, and to protect the rights of all citi- 
zens, it should be so administered as to favor morality 
and justice, and to eradicate whatever tends to immo- 
rality and injustice. The fundamental principles of our 
government are declared to be to establish justice, insure 
domestic tranquihty, provide for the common defense, 
and promote the general welfare of the people ; and 
such being the aim of the government, whatever tends 
toward the fostering of evil should not be tolerated or 
countenanced by the law of the land. And yet, with 
this solemn declaration of the fundamental law of the 
land, our law makers not only tolerate institutions with 



1/4 Human Development mid Progress. 

evil tendencies, but actually license and sustain such 
institutions by legal enactments. All over the country 
the environment of the youth is evil and only evil, and 
parents and Christian men and women quietly fold their 
arms and charge the evil that is so rife over the land to 
the natural depravity of man. 

Let the Christian sentiment of this country band to- 
gether in the cause of righteous government and all 
these vile laws, and the evil consequences that grow out 
of them may be swept from the land. And why not 
let me ask ? Why shall a nation claiming to be Chris- 
tian, thus tolerate and foster institutions of evil that 
tend only towards barbarism and crime ? 

But if our civilization is not yet far enough advanced 
to secure righteous legislation and pure government in 
all its localities, yet parents should not willingly submit 
to have their children exposed to the dangers of a bad 
environment. Better move into the wilderness at once, 
and suffer the vicissitudes of pioneer life, than have your 
children exposed to the evil tendencies of the rum shop, 
the gambling den and the brothel. It is true, if the 
physiological laws are observed in all cases during early 
life, and the mental and moral faculties have received 
proper training and culture, and there is no inherited 
evil tendencies, the risk of such a locality is greatly 
lessened. Few parents would run the risk of raising a 
family in a locality known to be subject to some bad 
physical disease, no matter how healthy they had been ; 
and is not moral depravity more to be deplored than 
physical ill-health ? Then it is certainly the bounden duty 
of parents to protect their children as far as they can from 
the evil tendencies of a bad environment ; and whenever 
rum shops, and all dens of pollution, are shorn of their 



Ilnjfian DcvclopDicfit and Progress. 175 

assumed respectability, by respectable people giving 
them a wide berth, much of their present power and 
influence will be lost. 

Having secured the essential conditions for men- 
tal and moral development, the next important step 
must be directed to the proper cultivation and training 
of these faculties ; for without this cultivation and train- 
ing, the force stored up in the organism will expend 
itself in the development of the lower faculties. If the 
blood be kept supplied with nutrient material and oxy- 
gen, the force thus secured ivill expend itself in the 
development of some of the faculties, especially in the 
young ; so if the cultivation of the mental and moral 
faculties be neglected, there will be increased develop- 
ment of the appetites and passions. Therefore if the 
reasoning powers, and the conscience are to be the 
ruling and guiding principles in man's life, their cultiva- 
tion and development becomes a necessity and must not 
be neglected or postponed. 

If the brain of an infant be examined at birth, the 
cerebral hemispheres will be found to be almost entirely 
destitute of gray matter, the part in which mental 
power originates. But this gray substance develops 
very rapidly after birth, if the proper conditions are 
present, and the proper effort at cultivation be insti- 
tuted. It is at this early period that the cultivation and 
training must be entirely through the senses of sight, 
sound, and touch. And there is no period of life that 
is fraught with more important consequences to the 
young being than this. If now it sees only repulsive 
sights, and only hears discordant sounds, and is per- 
mitted to handle nothing but what is rough and irrita- 
ting to its tender fingers, such a being would inevitably 



1/6 Human Development and Progress. 

grow up into a terrible monster, provided death did not 
step in and relieve it of its sufferings. But on the con- 
trary if none but beautiful sights meet its vision, and 
only the "concord of sweet sounds" fall upon its ear, 
and it is permitted to handle nothing but what will 
leave a pleasant impression upon its soft tender touch, 
such cultivation must ultimately expand into a beautiful 
life, provided all the necessary conditions for physical 
development be supplied to it. This, dear parents, is 
the time for the beginning of that culture and training 
that will brighten all the future life of your babe, or 
overcast it with darkness and blight. 

If there is any young mother who doubts the truth 
of this, let her resolve that when the tender nursling is 
first laid upon her bosom, that she will as far as possible 
carry out the true physiological laws in the rearing of 
the immortal life that is placed in her keeping ; and 
that only pleasant sights shall greet its vision, and that 
the sounds that fall upon its tympanum shall all be 
sweet as the "music of the spheres," nor shall its 
tender touch be pained by the handling of rough un- 
seemly objects. Then if it has not inherited some evil 
principle that will be strong enough to override the 
proper training, such a mother will be rewarded for all 
her care and solicitude, in seeing her darhng expand 
into beautiful manhood or womanhood, and the truths 
of the principles I am advocating in these pages will be 
proven to one mind. 



CHAPTER XI 



Mental and Moral Development Continued — Public School Trainin<<: 
— Its Defects — It Must be Based Upon the Physiological Laws of 
Development — Wendell Phillips on the Public School System — 
The Objects to be Sought in a Public School System — The Culti- 
vation of the Observing Powers— The Kindergarten — The Pri- 
mary School — Intermediate — Dr. Goodell's Views — High School 
Training — The Elevation of the Masses — Advice to Parents — 
The Moral Powers Should Be More Thoroughly Developed — The 
Moral Training by Parents. 

THE training of the mental and moral faculties must 
not cease with the infancy of the young being, but 
must be continued up to full maturity. Nor can parents 
claim a release of responsibility in this matter when the 
State takes charge of the training in the public schools. 
It is the most pressing duty of parents to see that the 
State makes provision in the public schools, for a more 
thorough training of the whole nature of the child than 
the majority of parents can provide at home. 

But this school training, like the home training, must 
be based upon the true physiological laws of human de- 
velopment. Although the training of the school is not 
so important as the training at home, yet it must be 
right training. The State cannot justly claim the right 
to take the child from under the care of its parents, and 
assume the control of its training, unless it makes the 
training more thorough and complete than the parents 

24 



178 IhivuDi Dcvclopvient and Progress. 

can make it. Upon no other grounds can the State as- 
sume control of the education and training of the child. 
This is the basis of its assumed right, and it is bound to 
make it good, or relinquish its authority over the educa- 
tion and training of the child. 

To claim that the systems of education that any of the 
States of the Union have as yet adopted, fully meets the 
wants of the age, or that it is based upon the true phys- 
iological laws of development, would certainly be doing 
violence to the facts. Perhaps our school system has 
been brought to as great perfection in the State of 
Massachusetts, as in any other State of the Union, and 
in speaking of the schools of that State, Mr. Wendell 
Phillips, in a speech in Boston, made use of the following 
strong language : ' ' The public school teach her arith- 
metic, philosophy, trigonometry, geometry, music, 
botany, history, and all that class of knowledge. 
Seven out of ten of these girls, remember, are to earn 
their bread by the labor of their hands. Well, at fif- 
teen, we give that child back to her parents utterly un- 
fitted for any kind of work that is worth a morsel of 
bread. If the pupil could only read the ordinary 
newspaper to their auditors it would be something, but 
this the scholars so educated, so produced cannot do. I 
repeat it, four-fifths of the girls you present to society 
at fifteen cannot read a page intelligibly. We produce 
only the szipevficial result of the culture we strive for. 

''Now I claim that this kind of education injures the 
boy or girl in at least three ways : first, they are able, 
only by forgetting what they have learned and beginning 
again, to earn their day's bread ; in the second place, it 
is earned reluctantly ; third, there is no ambition for 
perfection aroused. It seems to be a fact that seven- 



Hiofian Dcvelopnioit and Progress. 179 

tenths of the people born into this world earn their 
living on matter and not on mind. Now I protest 
against this whole system of common schools in Massa- 
chusetts. It lacks the first element of preparation for 
life. We take the young girl or the young boy whose 
parents are able to lift them into an intellectual pro- 
fession ; we keep them until they are eighteen years old 
in the high schools ; we teach them the sciences, they 
go to the academy or college to pursue some course of 
preparation for their presumed course through life. 
Why not keep them a little longer, and give them otJier 
than intellectual training for the business of life?" 

This is certainly not a very flattering description of 
the schools in the banner State of the Union ; and the 
worst feature of the case is, the picture is perhaps not 
overdrawn and in all probability not another State in the 
Union can make a better shov/ing. That our educational 
system has not kept pace with the advance in civiliza- 
tion, must be apparent to every one who has seriously 
thought upon the subject. In fact, scarcely a per- 
ceptible change has been made in the curriculum of our 
schools in the century just past, although better modes 
of teaching have been adopted in most of the States. 
But our school system must be brought up to the re- 
quirements of the present age, or it must relinquish its 
claims to forced attendance. If the right to the child, 
that God has given to the parents, is to be wrested from 
them by the State, then certainly the parents have the 
right to demand a fair equivalent, and this the State 
should provide. 

As the matter now stands, our school system assumes 
the education and training of the child between the 
ages of seven and eighteen years, and hurries it through 



i8o Human Development ajid Progress. 

a course of studies that does not develop all its powers 
of body or mind ; neither does it fit the young candidate 
for citizenship for any avocation in life. And then the 
present system of instruction adopted in our common 
schools, can never produce a well developed and sym- 
metrical manhood and womanhood, no matter how 
much time is spent in the schools. The object to be 
aimed at in a school system for the masses, should be 
the fullest cultivation and development of each and all 
the faculties and powers of body and mind they are 
capable of reaching, during the time the student is kept 
at school. Every human being that is born into the 
world is capable of reaching a maximum degree of de- 
velopment of body and mind, provided the proper con- 
ditions be supplied to it ; and anything short of this 
maximum development in any direction indicates a 
wrong somewhere. 

And the wrong attaches to our schools in this : that 
the course of instruction does not cultivate and de- 
velop all the powers of the mind in proper proportions, 
and leaves the physical body and moral faculties entirely 
uncared for. The routine of study severely taxes a few 
only of the mental faculties, leaving the observing 
powers especially, uncultivated. And without the cul- 
tivation of the observing powers, the individual passes 
through life unable to see what is really transpiring 
around him, and such persons can never be thoroughly 
fitted for the practical duties of Hfe. In fact, the 
present state of civilization has made the culture of the 
observing powers a prime necessity of life ; and this 
culture is best obtained through the study of the phys- 
ical sciences, as botany, geology, natural history, etc. 
* * It is only by means of a knowledge of these physical 



Hw)ia7i Dcvclop))icnt and Progress. i8i 

sciences, that we can read intelligently the great book 
of nature, and learn the beautiful system of laws the 
Heavenly Father has impressed upon all his works." 

And these physical sciences have become the leading 
power in our modern civilization. It was a knowledge 
of these Sciences that opened up the way for the appli- 
cation of steam to so many useful purposes of life, and 
has given us most of the machinery that is now doing 
so much of the labor of the world ; and all the improve- 
ments used in modern social Hfe are brought out through 
a knowledge of these sciences. And no man can nov/ 
be prepared to take his true position in life, and fill the 
full measure of his usefulness, without having some 
practical knowledge of these experimental sciences, and 
the application of their principles to the various avo- 
cations of life ; for the fact must be borne in mind that 
seven-tenths of the children after they leave the schools 
must earn their living in the practice of some industrial 
avocation. And if the business of life must be ac- 
quired after the school education is completed, there are 
many parents who are too poor to spare the services of 
their children during all the time required for both 
these trainings ; especially when the school training has 
rather unfitted them for the industrial training, by instilling 
in their minds the false idea that labor is degrading to 
the educated gentleman or lady. And so nearly uni- 
versal has this feeling become in this country, that it is 
very rare indeed to find an educated man or woman 
whose training has been far advanced in the schools or 
colleges of the country, engaged in any avocation that 
requires physical labor. 

I am aware that the plea of educated men is, that 
physical labor does not pay as well as brain labor, and 



1 82 Human Develop} f lent and Progress. 

therefore educated persons cannot afford to engage in 
such labor. But this very vicious idea should be driven 
from the minds of the people ; for long ages of thought 
and time has about equalized the wages of the various 
kinds of labor, in accordance with the cost of their 
preparation in time and means, and the mental and 
moral requirements of those who engage in them. As 
most kind of brain labor causes a greater consumption 
of vital force than muscular labor, and requires a more 
costly kind of food to maintain the system to its maxi- 
mum power, the recognized verdict of mankind has 
awarded it greater remuneration. 

No business is really desirable that necessarily shortens 
life, or exposes it to unusual risks. So all legitimate 
business of that character should command higher 
wages than such as allows the even tenor of life, undis- 
turbed by anxious care or serious risk. 

But to come back to the schools. As so large a pro- 
portion of mankind must spend the most of their adult 
years in some industrial pursuit, it is evident that the 
common schools (where this class especially must receive 
all their scholastic training), should tend to the develop- 
ment of that part of the nature which will best fit them 
for these avocations. 

In order to accomplish this, the common schools should 
somehow popularize labor, instead of making it odious. 
But how this is to be done is yet an unsettled question. 
Evidently there must be a complete revolution in our 
whole school system before it can be accomplished. But 
keeping in view the great fact that school training, as 
well as parental, shall be directed to the development of 
the whole nature of the child, physical, mental and 
moral, as far as opportunities will admit, I would sug- 



Human Dcvclopmoit and Pjogrcss. 18 



gest the following as a feasible arrangement for the 
common schools : 

Remembering that the common school system is 
specially needed for the laboring classes and the poor, 
then the common schools should particularly aim to 
train these classes for the future course of life, by giving 
them such educations as will fit them for usefulness. To 
accomplish this, let the schools be divided into three 
grades, as now, but by beginning lower down in the 
scale. Then, first in order as well as importance, must 
be placed the kindergarten, which should be provided 
by the State, just as much as any other grade of the 
common schools. These kindergarten schools could 
only be supported in the thickly settled communities, 
villages, towns and cities, and of course should only be 
opened in such places as they are needed. 

Now adopting Froebel's system in all its length and 
breadth in these schools, let them be free to all children 
between the ages of three and eight years ; and especi- 
ally should the laboring classes and the poor be en- 
couraged to send their children to these schools, during 
the daytime, when they could be taken to their homes at 
night; but if there were children deprived of their 
parents, or whose parents were unable to provide a com- 
fortable home for them, then the kindergarten should 
be prepared to keep such children, until a home could 
be procured. Therefore, the kindergarten school should 
be provided with sufficient house room for the teachers 
and the probable wants of the little ones ; and of course 
the grounds should be ample for garden purposes, play- 
grounds, and everything required in such institutions. 
Here should be begun that thorough course of physical, 
mental and moral training, which will lay the foundation 



184 Hiivian Dcvelopiiiait and Progress. 

for a life of usefulness and independence, which should 
ever characterize an American citizen. 

In no other grade of the schools will there be required 
a higher order of talent in the teacher, than in these 
kindergarten schools ; and if properly conducted, in no 
other department of the schools will such grand results 
be achieved. To secure the objects aimed at, the 
whole arrangement must be based upon the true physio- 
logical laws of development in all directions. These 
institutions should be models of correct living and train- 
ing in every particular, and if so conducted, their estab- 
lishment, in the villages and towns where needed, would 
wield an influence in regard to the proper management 
of children, that would soon be felt for good over the 
whole country. 

In relation to supplying these schools with suitable 
teachers, they could have the advantage of a class of 
trained teachers, who are now compelled to abandon 
teaching, just when they have become most thoroughly 
prepared for the business, and those are the female 
teachers who marry and become mothers. Here is*a 
class of teachers who, with a little additional training, 
would be just suited to take charge of these schools ; 
and as the State would provide a house for them to live 
in, and good compensation for their services, there is no 
doubt but these schools could soon be well supplied 
with teachers from this class alone. 

And why, let me ask, should the establishment of 
these schools be left to private enterprise alone, when 
the State sees fit to provide for the after education of 
its children ? Certainly, if it is the duty of the State 
to provide for the education of all its children, it is its 
duty to begin that education when its training will be 



Hio/iiifi DevclopDiciit and Progress. 185 

of most worth. And there is no period of the child's 
life so frauglit with momentous consequences to its 
future well being as this period devoted to kindergarten 
training ; and the State which will take the lead in the 
establishment of free kindergarten schools, will have 
taken a grand stride toward the higher development 
of man. 

After the kindergarten, comes the primary school 
proper ; and here the same principles should be adopted 
in the effort to develop the whole nature of the child 
in harmony wdth nature's laws. And while books should 
not be used at all in the kindergarten, they should be 
but sparingly used in these primary schools. Let the 
acquisition of knowledge here also, be mostly through 
the senses of sight, sound and touch, so that the observ- 
ing powers may be kept thoroughly aroused and active ; 
and at the same time the physical system must be kept 
in the best possible condition. In order to secure this 
result, confinement to the school room should never 
exceed two hours in any half day ; and this had better 
be divided into two sessions of an hour each, with a 
half hour's intermission between, for out-door exercise 
and play. A little time judiciously spent in the school 
is always better than a much longer time in pouring 
over text-books, with the contents of which the little 
student is utterly unprepared to grapple, and from which 
few ideas of any worth are obtained. 

But to what shall the four hours of school-room 
exercises be directed in this primary department? 
Perhaps the present mode of teaching the rudimentary 
branches of spelling, reading, writing and mental arith- 
metic, is as successful as any that is now known ; and 
this should be carried out in the primary department as 
25 



1 86 HuDiaii Development and Progress. 

now. But in addition to these, there should be plain 
and simple lessons in botany, physiology, and other 
branches of natural history, taught orally, but never 
from the books. If the instruction is to be in botany, 
let the teacher send the class of little ones out into the 
garden, or if there be no garden attached to the school, 
then to the woods or parks, with the request that each 
one of the class gather a few leaves from all the varie- 
ties of trees or shrubs they can find and bring the speci- 
mens to the teacher. Then let the teacher take the 
simplest form of leaf that can be found in the collection, 
and holding it up before the class, point out and explain 
each and all of its different parts, and continue the 
exercise until every member of the class is perfectly 
familiar with all the parts of this simple leaf 

The next day after the class return from the search 
for leaves, a more complicated leaf may be chosen by 
the teacher, and the same process repeated, until every 
member of the class is perfectly familiar with this speci- 
men, and how it differs from the one examined on the 
previous day. Let this course be continued day after 
day, until every member of the class is familiar with 
every form of leaf that can be obtained, and the name 
of the tree or shrub upon which it grows. Then the 
wild flowers may be collected by the class, and the same 
routine gone through with ; and then the different forms 
of roots and stems ; and then the plants as a whole, 
when the class will be ready for the classification of 
plants and flowers. * 

In such a system of instruction as is here indicated 
some points are gained that cannot be, by book learning ; 
and these should always be kept in view in all systems 
of education. In the first place, the ramble after the 



Hu))ia)i Devclopi}ie)it and Progress. 187 

specimens will greatly interest the little students, and 
will be an admirable assistance in the development of 
their physical bodies ; again, no other mode of instruc 
tion will so thoroughly arouse and cultivate the observ- 
ing powers and all the mental faculties will be quick- 
ened and brought into action ; and this without any 
worry or fatigue to the children, but all will be delighted 
with it. And do you say that children, eight to twelve 
years of age, are too young for such a course of instruc- 
tion ? Why if the teacher is qualified to give such a 
course, there is no healthy child, of the ages named, 
but would feel it a great misfortune to be deprived of 
these lessons. 

But it may be urged that such a course will take too 
much of the teacher's and students' time from the regu- 
lar routine of book training, and therefore it should not 
be introduced into the common schools. But can the 
time be so well occupied in anything else ? Suppose it 
takes a half hour of the two hours of either the fore- 
noon or afternoon school exercises, could the time be 
devoted to anything more beneficial to the children, 
who will thus learn to see objects as they are ? 

If some other branch of natural history be preferred, 
let it be pursued in the same manner. If it be ento- 
mology, let the children spend their intermission in the 
search for bugs and butterflies and insects of all kinds 
within reach, (and if there is a garden attached to the 
school, plenty of specimens can be found in it) ; and let 
the teacher adopt the same mode of description as with 
the leaves and flowers. The chosen specimens of these 
may be placed in natural positions and fastened in 
frames for preservation by the little students, if they 
are properly instructed in the process by the teacher ; 



1 88 Human Development a7id Pjvgress. 

and this may grow and develop into a taste for tax- 
idermy or some branch of industry connected with 
natural history that may furnish a life business to some 
of these little students. If geology be the chosen 
study, have the class collect specimens of rocks, stones, 
shells, fossils, and whatever relates to the science, and 
always let the same p^an be carried out, so the scholars 
may become familiar by sight and touch with the things 
under examination. 

All primary schools should have gardens attached to 
them, in which should be cultivated the finest specimens 
of trees, plants, flowers, fruits, and especially wild fruits 
and flowers, and even culinary vegetables, and the 
necessary labor of the garden may be advantageously 
performed by the children during the time they are not 
engaged in school-room exercises ; and if proper in- 
struction is given by the teacher, this will be the most 
profitable part of school education. And if upon the 
grounds there was as there should be, a teacher's cottage 
where the teacher could reside the whole year, the 
garden and grounds could then be cared for during the 
whole year, and this would be a great incentive to 
teachers to engage in the work of teaching as a life- 
time business, and he or she could then thoroughly 
qualify himself or herself for the work. 

Let the four hours of school-room exercises be fully 
occupied in the branches named, and two hours spent 
in the garden, either in physical labor, or in the study 
of the plants and the proper mode of their culture, or 
in a room set apart for a cabinet in natural history, pre- 
pared by the students themselves ; and if the teacher is 
thoroughly qualified for his work, there will be harmoni- 
ous growth and development of all the powers of the 



Hiwia/i Development and Progress. 189 

children under his care. Such a course of instruction 
will be something more then memorizing; it will be the 
development of the whole being in accordance to the 
true physiological laws. 

After sufficient training in these primary schools, the 
young students will be ready to take their place in the 
interm ediate department, and he^e text-books may be 
more freely used, and additional studies added to the 
course. Physical geography, drawing, arithmetic, and 
grammar, may all be included in the intermediate 
course, and the study of the branches of physical 
sciences may be continued by the same plan adopted in 
the lower departments; that is by experiment and 
personal inspection rather than by written description. 
The students need to know all about the things them- 
selves, and not what the books say about them. 

As the intermediate department will be made up 
mostly of students between the ages of twelve and 
eighteen years, physical training must not be neglected 
if we would have the children thoroughly fitted for the 
business of after life. Therefore all the physiological 
laws in relation to judicious exercise, alternated with 
suitable periods of rest, must be carried out to the 
fullest extent. It is the worst form of cruelty to de- 
velop the mental powers and leave the physical body 
weak and feeble ; a constant prey to all forms of pain, 
and suffering, and unable to feed the brain power that 
has been so prematurely developed. 

Man is a unit, and you cannot have a sustained 
mental power without a well developed physical organ- 
ism to repair the waste of brain substance that results 
from mental action. 

As the physical body can only develop by proper 



190 Hiinian Development and Progress. 

exercise, this should be just as carefully provided for in 
the school as any of the school exercises. How it can 
be best secured is not so easy a question to answer; but 
whenever the needed exercise can be secured along 
with the acquisition of useful knowledge, certainly such 
a course should be adopted. And as seven-tenths of 
the children attending the schools must earn their bread 
by the labor of their hands, and as all avocations must 
be learned before they can be successfully followed, why 
not let the needed exercise be secured in the learning 
of some useful avocation ? 

It must be remembered the State demands the at- 
tendance of all the youth between the ages of seven 
and twenty-one years, and the parents are of course de- 
prived of their services, and there is no opportunity for 
the children to learn any useful avocation during their 
school life unless it is learned in the schools. 

Learning a trade can be arranged in connection with 
the school, without entrenching upon the necessary 
time for full school-room exercises. Then in these 
intermediate schools, let the half day system be adopted ; 
that is, let these schools be divided into two classes of 
the same grade, and have one class attend the schools 
in the forenoon for a three hours session, and the after- 
noon these students can devote to labor in learning some 
trade, or in whatever business each one proposes to 
occupy himself in after life. The other class can spend 
the forenoon in laboring at their special calling, and the 
afternoon of three hours in the school. By this means 
fewer schools will be needed, and one teacher can 
manage twice the number of scholars he could, by 
having them all in school during the same hours. And 
farmers, mechanics, factories, etc., could give employ- 



Ilujfian Dcvclop))ic}it and Progress. 191 

ment to twice the number of hands, as those that attend 
the schools in the forenoon could take the place of 
those who attend the school in the afternoon. 

The great advantage of such a system would accrue 
to the children themselves ; for while getting their 
scholastic education they would also be fitting them- 
selves for their life's work ; and if their parents were 
very poor, the small wages paid them for their half 
day's work would go far toward supporting them while 
they were getting their school training. This would 
enable many parents to give their children longer time 
in the schools, and that as much actual education would 
be gained in an equal number of years by the half day 
system if properly conducted, as by the whole day 
system as now conducted, there is no question. 

Such an experiment has been partially tested in some 
of the manufacturing towns of Massachusetts, and has 
worked admirably; the classes spending but the half 
day in the schools, keeping up in all the studies with 
those who spent all day in school. 

The evil effects of our existing school system upon 
the physical systems of girls especially, and how it 
tends to cast odium upon labor, is very strongly stated 
by Dr. Goodell, in a recent work upon "The Diseases 
of Females." In this work the Doctor says: 

'Too much brain work, too little housework, is 
another crying evil of our land. Precocious cleverness 
is attainable only at the cost of- physical and sexual 
development. Manifold diseases, many of them of 
a uterine complexion, date from the recitation room. 
Under the high pressure of our public schools even a 
a class that ought to live by manual labor is made unfit 
for it. Hence an inability to work attaches degradation 



192 Human Development and Progress. 

to domestic labor ; and town and city teem therefore 
with pale-faced and flat-chested women, who seem to 
have no other hold on life than a momentary enthusiasm. 
From the age of eight to sixteen our daughters spend 
the most of their time either in the unwholesome air of 
the recitation room, or in pouring over their books, 
when they should be at play. As a result, the chief 
skill of the milliner seems to be directed towards con- 
cealing the lack of organs needful alike to beauty and 
maternity, and the girl of to-day becomes the barren 
wife and invaHd mother of to-morrow. Surely a civili- 
zation that stunts, deforms and enfeebles, must be 
unsound." 

The learned Doctor might very justly have added that 
a school system that aids and fosters and tends to per- 
petuate this stunting and enfeeblement, should be 
abandoned in a nation that claims to lead in the civiliza- 
tion of the world. This stunting of the physical pow- 
ers as the result of our school system, not only operates 
upon the girls, but is equally felt by the sterner sex. It 
is too much brain work and too little physical labor 
with all who attend the public schools. Then is it not 
time a change was made in our public schools, and a 
better system adopted in accord with the v/hole nature 
of the child, and to give him some preparation for the 
after duties of life ? And by the adoption of some such 
system as is here sketched, these grand objects might 
be attained without qny actual increase in the expense 
of the schools. 

As the State claims the right to educate the children 
of the State, and fit them for their future sphere, it 
should not fail in the most vital point, and hand them 
back to their parents utterly unqualified for any avoca- 



Human Dcvclopnunt a)id Progress. 193 

tion in life. As four-fifths of the children never reach 
the High School, but must complete their school educa- 
tion in these intermediate schools, it is here they must 
be fitted lor their ^life's work, if at all, in connection 
with the schools. 

These intermediate grades should therefore be made 
as perfect as possible for the purpose they are intended 
to subserve. And if the High School should be aban- 
doned entirely, as a State institution, and left to private 
enterprise, and the training in the intermediate grade 
continued some two years longer, and then brought up 
to a higher standard of excellence, the chang® would 
be a great advance over the present system. 

As the case now stands, but very few of the children 
of the laboring classes can be spared by their parents 
to receive the advantages of the training of the High 
Schools ; and if they do, it is very questionable indeed 
if their prospects in life are at all advanced by the train- 
ing. The great object of the present system of High 
School training is directed more to the making of teach- 
ers than for any industrial avocation ; and the young 
men and women who leave the High School with their 
diplomas, at once look out for some lucrative situation, 
and scarcely ever think of industrial pursuits. 

If they should prefer some industrial avocation they 
have had no suitable training, and are utterly unpre- 
pared to fill any position that might offer. In the few 
cases where laboring men have, at great sacrifice, given 
to a son or daughter the advantages of the High School 
training, it has been done under the false idea that by 
giving one of the family a position in some of the pro- 
fessions, that thereby the whole family will be elevated 
in the social scale. While this unjust distinction on 
26 



194 Huvian Development and Progress. 

family privileges has created jealousies and heart-burn- 
ings in many a family against the favored ones, its ten- 
dency is always to lower the status of labor, and widen 
the breach between the educated and laboring classes. 

Therefore our present system of High School train- 
ing has rather retarded than advanced the standard of 
that genuine civilization that should ever distinguish this 
nation. In republican America we can have no genuine 
progress in civilization that is not founded on the true 
elevation of the laboring classes. And this true eleva- 
tion must be based upon respect for labor and the 
laborer. If we are to preserve our republican institu- 
tions in their purity, the laboring classes must ever 
command the respect and attention commensurate with 
their importance. But to command respect and atten- 
tion the laboring classes must be elevated, and purified 
of the dross that now obscures their worth. 

This can only be done by the children of the laboring 
classes receiving a more thorough training for their life's 
work than has heretofore been attainable. And as their 
future success in life must depend upon their knowledge 
of some sort of manual labor, and the State demands 
their attendance upon the public schools at the time of 
life they should be preparing for their future course, 
how important it is that this preparation be secured 
while they are attending the public schools. Then 
when they leave the school, they will be prepared to at 
once choose their vocation for life and enter upon its 
duties ; and instead of remaining a burden upon their 
parents and a reproach to the State, they become at 
once self-supporting and helpful. 

That the common schools should thus prepare the 
children of the State there can be no question ; and that 



Hiiuiaji Develop I? ic fit and Progress. 195 

It can be done without additional expense over the 
present expensive system, cannot be questioned, pro- 
vided there was proper and judicious expenditure of the 
school fund as now raised. Just drop the high schools, 
which now absorb so large a percentage of the school 
fund for the benefit of not over one-fifth of the children 
of the State, and apply that amount to the purchase of 
additional grounds for garden purposes, and the erection 
of suitable buildings for teachers, residences, shops, and 
for apparatus, tools, etc. No additional outlay will 
be required for teachers. 

By the adoption of a system of instruction based 
upon the true physiological laws of development, the 
children can acquire an education that will qualify 
them for their life's work, and they will grow up into 
honorable and useful citizens. We must ever bear in 
mind the fact that the free schools are only needed by 
the laboring classes and the poor, as the wealthy can 
always provide for the education of their own children. 
This being true, the free schools should be so di- 
rected as to meet the wants of that class for which 
they are specially provided. It is true this might be 
looked upon as class legislation ; but if all classes were 
placed upon an equal footing in these schools, as they 
should be, then certainly no favoritism could be justly 
charged against the system. And as our government 
is administered on the principle of the "greatest good 
to the greatest number," such a system of schools 
would be in harmony with the principles of the govern- 
ment as well as of the laws of human development. 

The objection may be urged against the system 
here laid down, that the teachers are not prepared 
to carry it out even if it was instituted by the States. 



ig6 Human Dcvclopvicnt and Progress. 

This is very true, but it must be remembered that 
the teachers prepare themselves to teach what the 
law requires, and they certainly would not prepare 
themselves to teach such a course of instruction as the 
laws of their State would not allow them to adopt in 
their schools. Then to secure -the proper preparation 
of the teachers, the law must lay down a rational sys- 
tem of instruction based on the true physiological laws. 

Dear parents, let me endeavor to impress upon you 
the transcendent importance of thus basing the early 
training of your children upon the true laws of life. 
You toil and labor, and deny yourselves many of the 
comforts and pleasures of life in order that your children 
may escape the necessary burdens of Hfe, and secure 
social position in the world ; but if their training has 
not been in harmony with the true physiological laws, 
all your care, anxiety and sacrifice will prove disastrous 
to the best interests of your children. 

There is no fact in life more certainly established than 
that genuine ''happiness and pleasure is always ref- 
erable to a healthy state of the organism generally ; 
one in which every part is enabled to perform its proper 
functions unimpeded, and no undue call is made upon 
any single organ or member." But to secure this state 
of perfect equilibrium for your children, your most 
anxious care must be directed to the development of 
the whole being in accordance with physiological laws. 
It will not do to leave this development to take place 
undirected. God has given these immortal spirits into 
your keeping to train and nurture, and you cannot 
escape the responsibility that He has placed upon you. 
Nor will it avail you to claim your ignorance of these 
laws, and that therefore you cannot be held responsible 



HuuuDi Dcvelopviciit and Progress. 197 

for their observance, for if they are not observed in the 
rearing of your children, the evil consequences of the 
failure will fall most heavily upon them. 

How all important then that you strive to know 
these laws, and bring your own lives and the lives of 
your children in complete harmony with them. Any- 
thing short of this is casting reproach upon the Deity 
who so arranged these laws as to produce the best pos- 
sible results to the individual and the race. To doubt 
this is to question either the wisdom or goodness of 
God ; for if He was all wise He must have known all 
the consequences that would flow from the observance 
of them from the beginning, and if they were not 
arranged to secure the best possible results from those 
they were made to operate upon, then certainly the 
Deity did not place man under the most favorable cir- 
cumstances for happiness. 

No Christian man or woman can entertain such an 
idea for a moment. We all beUeve that the true physi- 
ological laws were instituted for man's best interests ; 
and that the only way for man to reach the highest state 
his nature will admit of, is to live in perfect obedience 
to them. And how a Christian mother can deliberately 
set these laws at defiance in clothing the body of her 
children, thus obstructing the full development of the 
organism as nature intended, merely because the cus- 
toms of society demand the sacrifice, is a marvel in 
human nature that is difficult to explain. 

If parents will not learn the physiological laws of life 
themselves, they certainly should see that their children 
are taught them in the pubHc schoosl. And the earlier 
in life this knowledge is acquired, the stronger the prob- 
ability of their being obeyed in after life. And no 



198 Ihinian Development and Progress. 

legacy a parent can give to a child, is of so much impor- 
tance as a thorough training of all its powers in accord- 
ance with these physiological laws. And yet many 
parents will sacrifice almost everything in order that 
they may be enabled to leave to their children, wealth, 
and a standing in society founded upon the homage 
which wealth secures from a certain class in this coun- 
try ; but if there has not been thorough cultivation of 
the mental and moral powers of your children, no posi- 
tion could be more dangerous to their best interests. 

It is a terrible thing to expose the young to the temp- 
tations which follow in the wake of wealth and position, 
unless the life is fortified by strong moral principles ; 
and hundreds of young men and women have been 
wrecked upon this much coveted social position. In 
truth there is no safety to the young of both sexes, but 
in the most thorough cultivation and enlargement of 
the mental and moral powers, so that these will naturally 
assume the control of the life. 

The mental and moral faculties must be the control- 
ling power in the life, or there can be no satisfactory 
progress towards a higher life ; and for these faculties 
to have crontrol of the life, they must be cultivated and 
developed more than the appetites and passions. And 
the important fact must never be lost sight of, that the 
great object of the control exercised either by parent or 
teacher, is to impress upon the child the ability to con- 
trol its own acts. In any State, or community, where 
there is a large percentage of the population who fail 
to bring their own actions in harmony with the com- 
monly accepted moral sentiments of mankind, without 
the intervention of legal force, the safe-guards of civil 
liberty are very insecure indeed ; and such a state of 



Hu})ian Di'vcIopDioit ami Progress. njcj 

society pre-supposes a failure of both proper parental 
and school training. Our country is now suffering from 
just such a condition of society almost everywhere. 
Life and property are everywhere insecure, and morality 
at a discount, with criminal courts crowded with busi- 
ness in every State, and the prisons are everywhere 
full to overflowing-, and the gallows glutted with victims. 
Then should there not be a change in the moral train- 
ing of the youth of the land ? Why should this not be 
in harm.ony with the physiological laws, as well as men- 
tal education ? 

A proper system of moral training it is true is very 
difficult to carry out, either in the home or in the 
school, from the fact that a large per cent, of parents 
and teachers have never received proper moral training 
themselves, and are consequently disposed to give the 
subject but little attention, supposing that children will 
somehow grow up into a healthy moral state as they 
reach manhood and womanhood. But this is running a 
terrible risk, for the whole nature of the child cannot 
lie dormant and undeveloped ; and if the moral nature 
is left uneducated, the appetites and passions will 
inevitably become the controlling influence in the life of 
such children. 

If we will examine into the moral training that many 
parents give their children, we will find it based upon 
the supposition that all right is on the part of the 
parents and all wrong is upon the side of the children ; 
and yet these same parents, in carrying out the moral 
government of home, perpetrate the most grievous 
wrongs upon the children, and lay the foundations of 
depraved and vicious lives. The manifestation of bad 
temper on the part of the parent for every trivial act of 



200 Htiniaii Development and Progress. 

disobedience of the child, is certainly not calculated to 
teach self government to the child. And when the bad 
temper of the parent expends itself in harsh language 
or severe punishment upon the child, such a course can- 
not fail to produce bad effects upon both parent and 
child. 

It is useless to repeat these oft reiterated charges 
against parental government, as there is scarcely a 
parent in the land but has heard them often enough to 
see their force. Then let us say no more of bad parental 
government, but endeavor to point out a better way. 
And the better way must always be in harmony with 
natural law. 

Whenever man transgresses a natural law, he always 
suffers the penalty commensurate with the offense. So 
children should be taught that disobedience to parental 
control, or immorality of any kind, will always be fol- 
lowed by a sufficient and reasonable penalty, and this 
had better be in the shape of deprivation of some cov- 
eted treasure. If the child is disturbing the household 
with its toys, let it know that the continued disturbance 
will result in the loss of the toys. Very frequently this 
will be felt by the child as the severest punishment, and 
it will be more careful about creating disturbances 
when it gets other playthings. 

The evil tendencies of the child must not only be 
restrained, but the principles of good must be early 
cultivated and developed in it. In order that children 
may be kind and loving to their pla)'mates and friends, 
the principle of kindness must be cultivated in them by 
granting opportunity for performing kindly acts toward 
playmates, and seeing that these acts are performed. 
And especially should kindly acts be performed by all 



IIuDiaii Development and P/'Oi^ress. 201 

members of the family toward each other, and in this 
ministration of kindness the parents should always take 
the lead. Nothing will more powerfully develop the 
moral principle of children than this gentleness and 
kindness manifested by the different members of a fam- 
ily toward each other. But how often do parents 
reserve all this gentleness and kindness for strangers, 
manifesting only bad feelings in the family circle. 

There is no way to successfully restrain the evil prin- 
ciples manifested by children, but by the cultivation and 
exercise of the opposite principles of good. These 
principles of good, to be made to grow in children, must 
be cultivated and fed v/ith their appropriate food. And 
all observation and experience prove that their mJnds 
are blessed or made miserable by the tempers or affec- 
tions which sway and govern , them ; and as these are 
permitted to proceed into action, they then produce 
natural and moral good or evil ; which severally beautify 
or distress them in their natural or moral relations. 

As every nature requires its appropriate food to sus- 
tain its life and promote its increase, so the kinds of 
life which produce these tempers, are capable of being 
fed, and thereby increasing and multiplying. And how 
very important that parents supply their children with 
that moral training that will sustain the principles of 
temperance, meekness, gentleness and kindness, in all 
things, and thus starve the opposite principles of intem- 
perance, arrogance, fierceness and unkindness. And 
this feeding and cultivating these blessed principles in 
the natures of your children should not be deferred until 
the selfish principles gain the ascendency over the life ; 
but should be begun upon the first dawnings of recog- 
nition upon the part of the child. As the physical body 
27 



202 Hnvia?i Development and Progress. 

requires a constant supply of appropriate food, from 
the first period of embryonic life until it ceases to be a 
living organism, so the moral nature must be sustained 
and developed with its appropriate nourishment, which 
consists in the ministrations of love and affection, gen- 
tleness, goodness and truth. While the physical body 
can feed upon the fruits of the earth, and grow strong 
and powerful, the moral principle must be fed with 
'* that bread which cometh down from heaven, and that 
giveth life to the world." 

Every person must be conscious of the fact that the 
soul has its hunger as well as the body ; and that while 
the physical basis of the soul, the brain, must receive its 
appropriate physical food, the moral principle can only 
grow in man or child by its exercise and use, and by 
this means it receives its appropriate food. It is by 
the breaking down of the organic compounds stored up 
in the basis of the moral faculties by their use, that 
force is evolved to increase and develop the moral powers. 

Just as muscular power is increased and developed by 
the use of the muscles, and mental power is increased 
by the use of the mental faculties, so the moral power 
can only develop and increase by the cultivation of the 
moral principles. And as the moral faculties should be 
the guiding and controlling influence in the life of the 
individual, why should their cultivation and develop- 
ment be left until the appetites and passions have 
gained the ascendency ? Do not trust to the wretched 
fallacy so often brought forward by parents, that no 
matter what the children do while they are young, 
when they get older they will naturally do better. This is 
often a most wicked and fatal mistake of parents. Your 
children will not do better as they grow older, unless 



Human Development and Prog) ess. 203 

you cultivate and develop the better part of their 
natures. Most parents act more consistently than 
this in the rearing of their domestic animals. To 
improve their horses and cattle they are careful in select- 
ing the parent stock, and by proper feeding, and the 
cultivation and training of all the good points, the 
improvement is brought about. 

Dear parents, can it be possible you care more for the 
improvement of your domestic animals than you do for 
the elevation of your children ? Have you studied the 
laws of human development sufficiently to know the 
proper course to adopt in the important matter of 
rearing a family of children ? 

If you are a careful and prudent business man or 
woman, you would not undertake any important 
business transaction without first studying all the prin- 
ciples involved in the business. But there is no 
business in Hfe so momentous in its consequences as the 
raising of a family of children; and yet hundreds of 
parents have undertaken this most important business 
of life without any preparation whatever, or any dis- 
position to study its leading principles, trusting to mere 
chance and the existing institutions of the country to 
secure the proper training of these immortal beings 
placed in their charge. But rest assured that God has 
not left so important a matter to mere chance ; but has 
stamped upon the organisms of your children immuta- 
ble laws, that will work out definite results and con- 
sequences ; and he has made it incumbent upon you to 
study these laws and bring your own lives and the lives 
of your children in harmony with them. 

This is the great business of life, the proper prepara- 
tion of which should take precedence of every thing 



204 Human Developvient and Pfvgress. 

else ; and yet christian fathers and mothers will labor 
and toil to secure wealth and fine clothing, and position 
in society, based on these worldly interests, without ever 
giving a thought to the important matter of securing 
the growth and development of their children in harmony 
with the physiological laws that God has impressed 
upon their organisms, the proper observance of which 
can alone lead to beautiful and noble lives. God's laws 
will be vindicated in your children, and will work out 
their inevitable results, and whether these results be 
good or evil will depend upon the character of the 
training you have given them in their early years. If 
you have brought out and developed the better faculties 
of their natures sufficiently to control their lives and 
actions, although your children may not all grow up to 
be great men and women, they will almost certainly de- 
velop into useful and honorable citizens, and your old 
age will be blessed and sweetened by the reflection that 
you have done your part toward securing prosperous 
and happy Hves for your children, and thus aided in the 
development of a higher type of manhood and woman- 
hood in your country. 



CHAPTER XII. 



The Physiological Laws that Relate to the Clothing — These Disre- 
garded — Dr. Willis on Clothing of Children— The Dictates of 
Fashion the Law — Rules that Should Govern Mothers in the 
Preparation of Dress for Their Children — A Model Style for 
Little Girls — Fashion Entails Lasting Burdens upon Societj^ — 
The Necessity of Sunlight in Living Rooms — Alice Carey. 

PERHAPS In no other direction are the laws of 
human developnaent so frequently and so shame 
fully violated as in tl^e matter of clothing the body ; 
these violations begin at the birth of the infant and ex- 
tend throughout life, especially with the gentler sex. 
Examine the little girl, the young miss, the ancient 
maiden, and the matrons of mature years, and in all 
grades and conditions of life, no attention whatever is 
given to the laws of health in the preparation of their 
clothing. 

"The essentials in the clothing of children, " says Dr. 
Willis, ' * are lightness, simpHcity and looseness. By its 
being as light as is consistent with due warmth, it will 
neither encumber the child, nor cause any waste of its 
powers ; in consequence of its simplicity, it will be 
readily and easily put on, so as to prevent many cries 
and tears ; while by its looseness it will leave full room 
for the growth, and due and regular expansion of the 
entire frame; a matter of infinite importance for the 
securing of health and comfort in after life." Although 



2o6 Hiinian Development and Progress. 

this was written near a century ago, it is full of practical 
wisdom and sound sense, and its rules are as binding 
upon the mothers of to-day as they were upon those 
to whom they were especially addressed. 

With all the light that has dawned upon the people 
of this favored nation in its first century of existence, 
where can a mother be found to-day who is governed 
by these rules, but on the contrary, who does not 
yield implicit obedience to the tyrant fashion. I know 
there are but few mothers who are willing to admit that 
this is the governing principle with them. If we look at 
the children we meet, anywhere in society, we see one 
universal style prevailing in all cases. And if told of 
the flagrant violations of physiological law in much of 
the clothing prepared for children, the almost universal 
answer of mothers will be that such is the prevailing 
fashion, and their children would be laughed at if it 
was not observed by them. And the worst feature of 
the case is in the fact, that this answer would be strictly 
true ; and mothers are thus driven to the necessity of 
sacrificing the health, comfort, and future happiness of 
their children upon the altar of this great idol fashion. 
And all this in the closing period of the nineteenth 
century, and in a nation that boasts of its leading the 
civilization of the world. 

An editorial in Hearth and Home, in 1874, on the 
subject of dress, uses this strong language: '*It is the 
pity of the thing, that of all vices, this of useless ex- 
travagance in dress, is the most contagious. By an un- 
explainable freemasonry, the thought of dress seems to 
be communicated through feminine natures all along 
the ranks." And so the absurdity of female dress are 
handed down from mother to daughter through untold 



Human Devclopvuiit and Progress. 207 

generations, and but few seem able and willing to stem 
the current against this tyranny of fashion, and introduce 
a rational standard of feminine dress, based on true 
scientific principles, and in accordance with physiological 
law. But never until woman's mind is freed from this 
tyranny of fashion, can there be genuine progress made 
toward a higher and purer civilization. Here, as in all 
other directions, must the mothers of the land train up 
their children under the true physiological laws of de- 
velopment, or bring them up to a heritage of vice and 
disease. 

But it has become too much the custom with writers 
and speakers to declare against the existing wrongs and 
vices of society without showing a better way. Without 
claiming any special light on this important subject, let 
me give some plain simple suggestions to mothers that 
will aid them in the preparation of proper clothing for 
their children. 

In the first place then, there are certain definite aims 
that should always be kept in view, and that should 
guide the mother, no matter what fashion may demand. 
The clothing of either male or female should always be 
adapted to the season of the year, and the particular 
climate, and should always be as light as possible to 
preserve a proper degree of warmth. The mother 
ought to know that it is the life processes going «on in 
the body of her child that generates the heat, and that 
the clothing is only to prevent its rapid escape, there- 
fore the clothing should be so arranged as to preserve 
an equable temperature over the whole body. To ac- 
complish this, the unscientific custom of placing almost 
all the entire clothing upon the body and loins, leaving 
the extremities exposed with but little protection, should 



2o8 Hill nan Dcvclop})icnt and Progress. 

be abandoned at once and forever. No more injurious 
custom can be devised than that of leaving the lower 
extremities of Httle girls and boys with no protection 
against the severity of winter weather, but a thin cotton, 
or even woolen stocking and the thinest of shoes for 
the feet, while the body is encased in several warm 
fabrics, and the head in a woolen hood or fur cap. The 
consequences of this irrational fashion is to drive the 
blood from the lower extremities upon the internal 
organs and brain, thus subjecting the system to unequal 
circulation, with tendency to congestion and inflamma- 
tion of the vital organs. Hundreds of children contract 
the most serious and fatal diseases in this way ; and in 
the large majority of cases where "colds" are con- 
tracted, it comes from imperfect protection to the feet 
and lower extremities. 

Again, no article of clothing should be fastened 
around the waist, but all the body clothing should be 
suspended from the shoulders, hanging loose at the 
waist or gathered up loosely by a belt ; and the covering 
of the lower extremities attached to the under garments 
by buttons. And always during cold weather have the 
lower limbs better protected than the head or body, as 
the circulation is not so strong there as near the center 
of circulation, the heart. Now, as the heat is evolved 
by the vital action going on in the organism of the 
child, and the clothing is only for the purpose of pre- 
venting its rapid escape, it should be arranged with 
special reference to this end. And as undue pressure 
anywhere on the surface of the body interferes with the 
free circulation of the blood in the parts so compressed, 
it is therefore incumbent upon the mother to see that 
her childrens' feet are protected with shoes or boots that 



ffnifian Divelopnient and Progress. 209 

are not only capable of keeping the feet dry, but they 
must not compress the feet, or they will interfere with 
the free circulation of the blood through them, and in 
that way prevent a proper degree of warmth being gen- 
erated in them. And whenever this is the case, there 
will be more or less disturbance of the health from the 
irregular circulation of the blood. 

In relation to simplicity in the clothing of children, 
all semblance of it is lost sight of. In the little girl of 
the period, all dressed up in the extreme of fashion, it 
is difficult to conceive of anything more monstrous and 
absurd. Every movement of her little body is con- 
strained and unnatural; and she is taught that in order 
to make her mark in society when she comes to be a 
woman, she must ape the manners and movements of 
the young ladies who now shine in her circle. In order 
to accomplish this, her frail little body must be encased 
in whalebone or steel, and her dress bedecked in the 
most gorgeous style, and weighed down with ruffles 
and flounces, and consequently all the functions of her 
organism imperfectly performed. Therefore the artless, 
joyous, bounding little girl of a half century ago can no 
more be found in society ; but this miniature lady, in all 
her gay trappings, has taken her place. 

The effect of such training is most disastrous to the 
physical, mental and moral development of the child. 
There is nothing natural in it ; but on the contrary it is 
all in direct antagonism to nature's methods. Pride, 
vanity and selfishness are most thoroughly nurtured by 
such a course, at the expense of all the noble faculties 
of the child nature. And the physical body, not being 
left free to assume its normal development, soon loses its 
native vigor and elasticity, and becomes an easy prey to 
28 



2IO I hinuvi DevelopDioit a)id Progress. 

all manner of diseases ; and a life that should have been 
buoyant and happy in itself, and a benison to the 
world, is thus doomed to suffering and misery, and the 
world no richer for its having hved in it. 

Let no one charge me with drawing an extravagant 
picture of the evil effects which are constantly flowing 
from this irrational mode of clothing the children of 
this country. No pen can over-estimate the pernicious 
influences that are poisoning all the avenues of society 
from this source. The abnormal and extravagant man- 
ner of clothing the body, not only of children but of 
all ages, especially of females, is found in every phase 
of American society, and is everywhere undermining 
the physical stamina and moral worth of the people. 

While a great number of the mothers of our land are 
wearing out their own lives in striving to dress their 
little girls in response to the demands of fashion, there 
is a very small but increasing number who are alive to 
all its viciousness, and are laboring to produce a better 
style, which will do no violence to the physiological 
laws, and at the same time will be handsome and 
attractive. An article written by "F. B. J." for The 
Laws of Life, (a monthly journal published by Dr. 
Jackson at his Mountain Home, Livingston county, N. 
Y.) describes a little girl's wardrobe which so fully meets 
all the requirements of a perfect "suit" for little girls, 
that I copy it, almost entire, for the benefit of all 
mothers who may read these pages, and who have little 
girls to clothe. 

"The mother of one of the darlings who has played 
about on our hillside for a year and more, has given us 
an opportunity to examine her winter wardrobe, for the 
purpose of describing it for The Laws of Life. The 



I 



Human DcvelopDioit aiid Progress. 2 1 1 

lady is very desirous that other mothers of httle girls 
should know of this way of dressing, since it is so 
intrinsically excellent, and has proved such a satisfaction 
to herself, and such a blessing to her sweet blossom. 
Being a lady whose tastes and associations required that 
the dress must be becoming, she has not patched up 
these garments out of anything that happened to be on 
hand, or with the sole idea of health ; but while keep- 
ing the health idea paramount, she has made her little 
one picturesque — has put style to the fashion of her 
garments — made her in fact a beautiful "blossom" of 
the snow and frost ; her cunning brows and cardinal 
suit, her sun-browned and reddened cheeks, and bright 
brown hair and eyes, showing charmingly against winter 
settings. We have, in our association with thoughtful 
mothers, seen many admirable clothing arrangements 
for the protection and well-being of Httle girls, but none 
so complete in all the little points as this. 

"The first garment is a union suit of soft merino. 
There are two grades, one light, and this for fall and 
spring, another for winter, fine, soft, but heavier. If 
these cannot be found woven whole, the vest is cut off 
to the right length and the drawers seamed to it. Over 
this suit is worn a cotton flannel union suit, fitted with 
great care, having a seam in front to conform to the out- 
line of the figure. Both suits come to the wrists and 
ankles, are buttoned behind, and open on the right side 
only, the slit being left long enough for convenience. 
There are three buttons on the sides, one above the other, 
the lower to hold the Demorest patent elastic stocking 
strap, the next the fall band, and the upper the gaiter 
dress drawers. There is also one button in front to 
hold the over drawers, and two behind at equal inter- 



2 1 2 fhiinan Development and Progress. 

vals between the side buttons — the idea being that there 
is no mistake as to which is front and which is back of 
drawers — else when the shout of the snow revellers is 
heard, in the haste to join them the garment might go 
on back to front, and the disposition get twisted in 
re-adjusting. Besides it avoids a large button over the 
spine. 

"The hose are knit of soft wool yarn, and come near 
to the hips. The very best thick solid shoes, with 
inside wool-covered cork soles are worn, and in very 
cold or wet weather, arctics, or rubber overshoes. 
There is no underskirt, (except a white one for their 
summer dresses) and the dresses are all made Princesse 
fashion, of woolen goods, and lined throughout with 
good heavy trimmings, like colored drillings, or un- 
bleached cotton. The outer garment is a beaver cloth 
coat, double-breasted, and reaching to the ankles. It is 
lined with brown cotton flannel and wadded. This lin- 
ing has a thin interlining back of the wadding, and is 
sewed in slightly so that it can be taken out after the 
coldest weather is past, and thus the coat answers for 
all seasons — a matter of economy in dressing a growing 
child. Knit woolen mittens are fastened to the coat by 
cords so they cannot be lost, and a knit woolen hood 
protects the head. 

*'A very important part of the out-door dress is the 
over-drawers, which terminate in nicely fitting gaiters 
coming down over the feet, and held by straps under 
the boots. They are to be put on and off with the coat 
and give that protection to the lower part of the body 
which the coat does to the upper. Being intended for 
hard service in snow and slush, they are water-proof, 
and lined with bed-ticking. These materials seem well 



Human Devclopuioit and Progress. 213 

nigh impervious to water. They button to the under 
suits, the gaiter ends button by a few buttons over the 
bootees about the ankle, and elastic straps hold them 
under the shoe. The child comes in from play on 
the snowiest and wettest days, and taking off coat 
and drawers, and arctic shoes, is perfectly warm and 
dry. So the dear little five-year-old, snug, warm and 
safe, almost lives out-doors in winter, and is well nigh as 
hardy as the chickadees and nut-hatches that pipe to 
her from the bare trees. The mother is an invalid and 
would by all possible means guard her child from 
harm." 

Should not all mothers, whether invalid or not, by 
all available means guard their darling little daughters 
against all possible harm from the weather — not by be- 
decking them in all sorts of flimsy finery and then 
keeping them in the house, but as this noble mother, 
dressing them in such manner that they will be safe 
and warm, and then let them spend their time in the 
open air. Why let fashion hinder you from the per- 
formance of this known duty, and thus entail the terri- 
ble risk of disease and premature death to your little 
ones, when it can be so easily avoided ? 

The beautiful "suit" above represented is certainly as 
near perfect for little girls as can be arranged, and 
leaves nothing to be sought for in the matter of dress, 
except it be, its universal adoption by all the mothers 
in the land, which is greatly to be desired. Let no 
mother urge that all this fixing for the dress of little 
girls is too expensive, and cannot be followed by a 
large per cent, of those who have little daughters to 
dress. But if all the extra fixing that is put on the 
outer garments be dispensed with, and good substantial 



214 Hni)ia)i Dcvclopiiicnt and Progress. 

material be chosen, there is no question but the expense 
can be borne, as it will not exceed what is now spent on 
the little darlings, and that without furnishing the neces- 
sary protection. 

Let me entreat you, dear mothers, to awake to a full 
sense of your responsibility in this matter. These 
precious souls are placed in your sacred keeping during 
the most impressible period of their lives, and they 
must endure all the suffering that results from your 
failure to bring them up in accordance with the true 
physiological laws of life. I am sure that every mother 
too dearly loves her children to impose upon them a 
life of untold suffering and unhappiness, for no other 
reason than that fashion demands the sacrifice ; and so 
soon as the mothers of the country come to see and 
understand all the evil consequences that flow from every 
irrational and unphilosophical mode of dress that may 
happen to prevail, they will refuse to acquiesce in what- 
ever is detrimental to health, and will clothe their 
children in obedience to the physiological laws. 

I know it is difficult for one woman to stem the cur- 
rent of opposition which would be brought against her 
by the sisterhood should she disregard the demands of 
fashion, and there are but few women in the country 
brave enough to stand the pressure of this opposition. 
Let a few of the leading women of any community 
band themselves together and study the true principles 
of clothing the body in accordance with the require- 
ments of the physiological laws, and then carry them 
out in the clothing of themselves and their families, and 
all adverse criticism will be disarmed, and an influence 
set to work in favor of the new departure that will be- 
come irresistible. And is it not time that something 



lIuDUDi Dcvilopiiuiit and Progress. 215 

was being done in this country to cut the Gordian knot 
of fashion, and to take the power to dictate the style of 
clothing the American women shall wear, out of the 
hands of the habitues of the theatre and opera, and 
place it with the well-informed and cultivated, and who 
are qualified to arrange a style of dress that will accord 
with good taste and the laws of health ? 

There is no slavery so galling as that which binds us 
to an evil principle ! And let any sensible mother 
endeavor to probe the causes that bring about the weari- 
ness, the vexation and distractions of her household, 
and she will find that they all proceed from this yielding 
obedience to the dictates of the evil principle of fashion. 

To be prepared to clothe the young lady of the period 
up to the full demands of this fickle goddess, requires 
the study of years, and but few mothers can spare the 
time from their other duties to gain the necessary 
knowledge and skill. Hence special artists must be em- 
ployed to do the work which should always be done in 
the home circle, and the daughter, along with the spirit 
of pride that is thus inculcated, gets a feeling of depen- 
dence which must cast a blight over her whole future 
Hfe. 

Hundreds of the best women of the land are driven 
out of society from the simple fact that they cannot 
incur the expense which fashion demands in the matter 
of dress ; and hundreds of others sacrifice honesty and 
comfort — everything that woman should hold above all 
price in order that they may shine in the halls of fashion. 
And all this to please the eye of their own sex ; for all 
sensible men much prefer the modest, artless lady, who 
shows off her charms in plain and simple attire. 

Let me entreat you, mothers of America, to cut loose 



2 1 6 IhiDUDi DevelopDioit and Progress. 

from your fealty to fashion ; and especially to inculcate 
in your growing daughters the great fact, that a modest 
and gentle demeanor, coupled with a well cultivated 
mind, even if clothed in plain attire, is more prized by 
all sensible persons, than the gayest butterfly that 
flaunts her gaudy equipage in the halls of fashion. 
Remember that fealty to fashion is ever increasing 
the burdens of your lives, without offering you the 
least shadow of recompense in return. It keeps you 
constantly in rebellion against the laws which God has 
instituted for the development of the human race, and 
is bequeathing to your children a heritage of suffering 
and woe. 

I do not ask you to ignore the love of the beautiful, 
for this is inherent in woman's very nature ; but on the 
contrary, would have you cultivate the highest concep- 
tions of the beautiful as manifested in the works of God. 
Let these be your models, and not attempt to distort 
and disfigure the "human form divine," even if it is de- 
manded by fashion. Whenever the genuine artist wishes 
for a model of beauty, he does not go to the halls of 
fashion to find her ; but from among the people of the 
country he chooses the unmutilated and unchanged 
child of nature. 

It is not only in relation to the clothing of the body 
that fashion directs the American household into all 
manner of extravagances and follies, but in every 
department its power may be traced. It is the power 
of this tyrant that fills the parlor with furniture that the 
sunlight must never touch, or its beauty will be lost 
forever. In the care of the housewife to protect the 
furniture from the light and the rays of the sun, she 
should know that she is putting the atmosphere of her 



Ifin/ian Dcvclopuiciit and Proi^rcss. 217 

room in a condition that is utterly unfit for human 
breathing-, and no one can occupy a room thus excluded 
from the sunshine and the light, even for a short time, 
without serious detriment to the health. Better, far 
better, have but a single room to the house, and have 
that at all times well lighted and ventilated, than to 
have a finely furnished room for company, the atmos- 
phere of which is made actually poisonous by this 
infringement of physiological law. The direct rays of 
the sun should enter every room of every house intend- 
ed for the occupancy of man, and this rule cannot be 
departed from without serious detriment to every one 
who spends but a short time even in a room so deprived 
of the great purifier, sunlight. 

As the vegetable loses its healthy hue and color, 
when deprived of the rays from *'01d Sol, " and becomes 
pale and sickly, so children who are kept confined in 
rooms deprived of his vivifying rays, soon show signs 
of failing health, and lose their vivacity and spirit. And 
yet in all the fine and costly residences in the cities, 
with their inside bhnds to the windows, these are kept 
closed all day in the rooms set apart for company, and 
are only partially opened during the short time of their 
occupancy, when they are again closed. In such rooms 
the air soon becomes contaminated and cannot be 
breathed into the lungs without injury to the health. 

Then the furniture that cannot withstand the direct 
rays of the sun without injury should not be used in 
any room of an occupied house, and never would be, 
if the health and purity of the inmates were prized as 
they should be. Let every parent bear in mind that the 
institution of the home is for the purpose of developing 
all that is good, pure and lovely in human character, 
20 



2i8 lIumaiL Dcvelopmoit and Progress. 

and nothing which will tend to lower or degrade the 
physical, mental and moral nature of man should be 
allowed a place in this sacred temple. 

The effect of this exclusion of sunlight from the 
dwellings of the rich and opulent in the towns and 
cities, and of those who are struggling to follow their 
lead in the lower walks of life, is doing incalculable 
harm, and valuable and useful lives are yearly being 
lost to their families and to society from this cause. 

No more striking example of this can be found than 
in the life of Alice Carey. This country has produced 
no nobler and purer w^oman during the century just 
past, than this gifted child of the country. Reared on 
a farm in Western Ohio, she knew but little sickness 
until she arrived at womanhood ; when, feeling the fires 
of poetic genius burning within her, and thirsting for a 
wider field of action, and the society of kindred spirits, 
she wended her way to the city of New York, where 
she took private rooms and entered upon her life's 
mission with all the earnestness of her nature. Strug- 
gling against the ills of poverty and a defective educa- 
tion, she toiled unceasingly to overcome both these 
evils ; and although at the age of fifty she had secured 
a pleasant and beautiful home, and had attained to the 
highest aim of her ambition, she at the same time had 
planted the seeds of decay in her own person that she 
now saw must soon wind up her earthly career. Almost 
constant brain labor in a close and darkened room for 
so many weary years, had so undermined her constitu- 
tion that no change now could restore her to health and 
happiness. Her biographer, Mrs. Mary Clemmer Ames, 
thus speaks of her at this time : 

*' She needed sunshine. She needed fresher, freer, 



HuniiDi Devclop)nc)it and Progress. 219 

and purer air. She needed a will, wiser, and more 
potent than her own to convince her of the inexorable 
laws of human life, and then compel her to their obedi- 
ence. She could never have entirely escaped the in- 
evitable penalty of hereditary law, but that she might 
have delayed it to the outer line which marks the allotted 
time of average human life, no one finally believed 
more firmly than she did. Her disobedience of the 
laws of life was the results of circumstance, of condition, 
and of temperament — rarely a wilful fact; no less she 
paid the penalty — by her so reluctantly, so pathetically 
paid — her life. Hers was the fatal mistake of so many 
brain workers — that all time given to refreshments 
and rest is so much taken from the results of labor ; 
forgetting that the finer the instrument the more fatal 
the effect of undue strain." 

Nor is this an isolated case by any means. Every 
year of our country's history, some of the brightest 
lights are thus prematurely put out, many of them even 
before the full maturity of their power is reached. 
Striving to become immortal and live in the ages to 
come, they give no heed to the laws that secure the de- 
velopment and preservation of their physiological 
bodies, which falling into premature decay, their spiritual 
light goes out before it reaches its full radiance and 
glory. 

Can man never learn that there is no escape from the 
laws of human development — that the continued use of 
the powers of life even for the best of purposes, will 
soon exhaust the supply unless it is kept constantly re- 
newed by obedience to the physiological laws ? 

It would seem there is no lesson so hard to learn as 
this. Although the outraged and violated laws of life 



220 Human Dcvclopnieiit and Progress. 

are constantly inflicting their penalties of pain and 
suffering — thus reminding man of his transgressions ; 
but never having been taught the necessity of keeping 
his life in harmony with the laws of human development, 
he does not see his error until his habit of rebellion 
against nature's laws becomes too strong to resist, and 
he quietly yields to his fate. 

Parents of the rising generation, are you fully con- 
scious of the terrible responsibility that is resting upon 
you in the proper training and management of your 
children ? Can you not see that the influences you are 
impressing upon the characters of your children while 
undergoing your care and keeping, must shape their 
destiny for all time ? If you are careless and indiffer- 
ent about observing the true physiological laws of life 
in the rearing of your children, and suffer the evil prin- 
ciples of their natures to gain the ascendency in their 
lives, it will certainly not be a pleasant reflection to you, 
when you see these evil principles cropping out in 
vicious conduct and actions. When your children are 
languishing upon beds of sickness and pain, as the re- 
sult of the violations of physiological law, will it not 
add poignancy to your grief to feel that you were more 
solicitous to obey the demands of fashion than the laws 
of life. 

Dear mothers, you whose love for your children is so 
constant and enduring, can you not realize the impor- 
tance of observing the physiological laws that the 
Heavenly Father has marked out for human develop- 
ment, and that every infraction of these laws will stamp 
its baneful influence upon the future of \'our children's 
lives ? 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Counsel to Young Ladies— The Power of Woman in Societ}' — 
Woman Naturally a Teacher — Her Proper Training to Fit Her 
For Her Mission — Mrs. Sigourne}' on Woman's Mission — Self- 
Examination Necessary to Woman —Fashion Must Not Gain the 
Ascendency — The Development of the Mental and Moral 
Natures Should be Woman's Great Concern — Physical Develop- 
ment Must Not be Neglected. 

YOUNG ladies, it now becomes my duty, as well as 
my pleasure, to give a few words of fatherly advice 
and counsel to you, on the conduct of life, and the im- 
portance of your living in harmony with true physi- 
ological laws. You must recollect that the progress 
in civilization and refinement is always marked by the 
character of woman, and the influence she exerts toward 
the true elevation of mankind. Just in proportion as 
woman takes her place in society as the equal companion 
of man, and not merely as his drudge or slave, in the 
same degree does society rise in the scale of civilization. 
The wonderful influence exerted by the mother in the 
rearing of the family, is almost equaled by the influence 
of woman in society at large. Man everywhere, in 
civilized society, pays homage and tribute to the purity 
and worth of woman, and recognizes her as heaven's 
last, best gift to him. 

With all this power and influence over society there 
comes a corresponding responsibility ; it implies that 



222 Ihinian Development a)id Progress. 

there shall be a special training to enable woman to 
exert her power and influence in the direction of the 
true elevation of society. And this special training 
must always be in harmony with the true physiological 
laws, and should be commenced early in life. 

Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, in her letters to young ladies, 
says ''the natural vocation of females is to teach. It is 
true, that only a small proportion are engaged in the 
departments of public and systematic instruction. But 
the hearing of recitations, and the routine of scholastic 
discipline are but parts of education. It is in the 
domestic sphere, in her own native province, that 
woman is inevitably a teacher. 

''There she modifies by her example, her dependents, 
her companions, every dweller under her own roof. Is 
not the infant in the cradle her pupil ? Does not her 
smile give the earliest lesson to its soul ? Is not her 
prayer the first messenger for it in the court of heaven ? 
Does she not enshrine her own image in the sanctuary 
of the young child's mind so firmly that no revulsion 
can displace, no idolatry supplant it? Does she not 
guide the daughter, until placing her hand in that of 
her husband, she reaches that pedestal, from whence, 
in her turn, she imparts to others the stamp and color- 
ing which she herself has received ? Might she not 
even upon her sons, engrave what they shall take un- 
changed through all the temptations of time, to the bar 
of the last judgment ? Does not the influence of woman 
rest upon every member of the household, like the dew 
upon the tender herb, or the sunbeam silently educating 
the young flower ? or as the shower and the sleepless 
stream cheer and invigorate the proudest tree of the 
forest?" 



I fu]iian Dcvclopmoit ami Progress. 223 

"Admitting then, that whether she wills it or not, 
whether she even knows it or not, she is still a teacher, 
and perceiving that the mind in its most plastic state is 
yielded to her tutilage, it becomes a momentous inquiry 
what she shall be qualified to teach. Has she not the 
power to impress her own lineaments on the next gene- 
ration ? If wisdom and utility have been the objects of 
her choice, society will surely reap the benefit. If folly 
and self indulgence are her prevailing characteristics, 
posterity are in danger of inheriting the likeness." 

Such is the language of one of the noblest women of 
modern times ; and she knew whereof she was speaking. 
Then, precious young ladies, are you conscious of the 
tremendous power and influence you are to wield over 
those with whom you must come in contact in your 
pilgrimage through life ? Are you well prepared to ex- 
ercise the power and influence you possess in such 
manner as to aid in the higher development of man? 
What is the education and training you need to prepare 
you for your life's work ? If this special training has 
not been imparted by your parents and the State, and 
you have reached the age when you are free from 
parental control without it, then it is your duty to set 
about its acquisition at once. 

A casual glance at the condition of mankind every- 
where, will certainly be convincing evidence that the 
tendencies of society are toward corruption ; that there 
is a gradual loosening of the morals of the people in 
almost every direction and among all classes of society. 

What -are the causes that are producing all this ruin 
and degradation along with the march of our civiliza- 
tion ? Has the influence of woman anything to do with 
the immoral tendencies of the age ? 



2 24 Ifinna/i Dcvclopuiciit and Progress. 

These are questions of peculiar interest to you, young 
ladies ; and let everyone give herself the most searching 
self-examination and see if any of these evil tendencies 
can be traced directly to her influence. There is no 
more valuable mode of discipline than by these daily 
self-examinations. " Know thyself" is an injunction as 
necessary and profitable to woman as to man. This 
self-examination, if honestly and earnestly made, will 
open your minds to the defects of your previous train- 
ing; and will point out the proper course to pursue to 
acquire that knowledge which will enable you to fill your 
proper sphere in life. 

If you find the tendencies of your life leaning 
toward selfish indulgences, and you take no delight in 
the cultivation of the higher faculties of your nature, 
then has your previous training been faulty in the ex- 
treme ; and if you would desire to reach to that high 
realm of thought and feeling to which woman should 
ever aspire, you must rouse up the latent energies of the 
mental and moral powers, and place them in the ascend- 
ency in your lives, by a thorough system of culture and 
training. I know that if the selfish principles of your 
nature were allowed to gain the ascendency in your 
earlier years, it will take a severe struggle on your parts 
now to change the current of your thoughts and feelings 
and place the mental and moral faculties in control of 
the will ; yet this victory must be won if you would fill 
the true mission of your womanhood. And the thought 
that from the nature of the relations you sustain to 
society, your influence must be felt for good or evil, 
should be sufficient stimulus to you to strive to place 
that influence on the side of the good. 

To do this, you must commence a system of self-cul- 



HunuDi Dcvclop})ic)it and Pivgrcss. 225 

ture that will develop the mental and moral powers. 
And especially must the moral principle bear sway in 
all your actions if you would show forth the true noble- 
ness of your womanly natures. There is nothing that so 
unsexes a woman as vicious conduct and actions ; and 
even rudeness and ill-manners can scarcely be tolerated 
in society when manifested in the life of women. 

A close study of the progress of civilization and refine- 
ment in this country will show you that it has *at all 
times kept pace with the conditions and requirements of 
woman ; and any further advance in refinement can only 
be secured by the true elevation of woman. A higher 
type of womanhood, physical, mental and moral, must 
precede a higher type of manhood. 

How important it is then, that you young ladies 
early realize the part that you are to act in the world's 
progress, and hasten to prepare yourselves to act it 
worthily and well. You cannot secure this preparation 
by answering the demands of fashionable society. This 
all tends in the direction of show, glitter and superficial 
display, and has nothing substantial and elevating in it. 
The young lady who becomes a votary of fashion can 
never be prepared to fill her true mission in the world, 
or aid in the true elevation of mankind. 

The reason is certainly plain to every unprejudiced 
mind. Whenever the goddess of fashion gains control 
of the individual, she becomes a most unmitigated 
tyrant, and will be satisfied with nothing short of un- 
questioning obedience. Like the commanding officer 
in the army, the subordinate must obey every command, 
no matter how much it may conflict with his sense of 
duty. The effect of this obedience to the behests of 
fashion tends to feed and foster the selfish principles, 
30 



2 26 Human Dcvclopvieiit and Progress. 

but starves all the higher and nobler impulses of your 
natures. * * The laws of fashion are often so preposter- 
ous, her dominion so arbitrary, that reason and philoso- 
phy can have little hope of gaining ground in her 
empire."* 

Then if you would succeed in your life's mission, you 
must never acknowledge fealty to this fickle goddess. 
I do not mean that you should be entirely indifferent 
to appearances ; or that you should pay no attention to 
the adornment of your persons. The love of the beau- 
tiful is inherent in the womanly nature, and if properly 
cultivated and developed, will always add to the attrac- 
tion of woman and increase her power and influence. 

The demands of fashion too often do violence to every 
principle of true beauty and the proper fitness of things. 
Nor does it stop at the sacrifice of beauty, but health 
and even life itself must be yielded up to her behests. 
The lamented Dr. Mussey, of Cincinnati, said in a public 
lecture, that "greater numbers annually die among the 
female sex in consequence of tight lacing, than are de- 
stroyed among the other sex by the use of spirituous 
liquors in the same time." Nor is tight lacing the only 
mode of self destruction this tyrant imposes upon her 
votaries. The imperfect dressing of the feet ; the exces- 
sive weight of clothing suspended from the waist ; the 
vicious and ridiculous head-gear, all tend to sap the 
foundation of health and bring on premature decay and 
death. 

Surely no young lady who has followed me thus far 
in these pages, and has learned the beautiful system of 
laws the Heavenly Father has impressed upon her phys- 
ical body, can be so blind to her duty to herself and 

*Mrs. Sigournej'— Letters to Young Ladies. 



Human Dri'clopvient and Progress. 227 

to society as to further obey the dictates of fashion, 
when its demands lead her to disobey these physiologi- 
cal laws. A very slight insight into the physiology of 
the human organism must convince her that there can 
be no compression or tying down of the chest walls 
without serious detriment to the health. Woman's 
chest was not made too large for the purposes of respi- 
ration ; but the ribs in the chest walls are admirably 
arranged to allow the fullest expansion of the lungs, 
provided their movements are not in any way obstructed. 
And now as no one can have pure blood unless perfect 
respiration is carried on, every young lady can see that 
the least interference with the movements of the chest 
walls must tend to bring about impurity of the blood, 
by interfering with respiration ; and as the blood is the 
life, impurity of the blood means impurity in the life. 

The same may be said of all violations of physiolog- 
ical law. Every interference with the natural workings 
of the organism tends to lower the life of the individual. 
The cramping of the feet in tight shoes or boots, inter- 
feres with the circulation of the blood through them, 
and this causes an unequal circulation through the 
organism, making the feet cold and the head hot. The 
wearing of high heels upon the shoes or boots causes a 
great excess of labor upon the muscles of the back to 
prevent the body from falling forward ; and if long con- 
tinued, must produce permanent weakness of the spinal 
column. What a common source of suffering and misery 
is this weak back among ladies in our modern genteel 
society ! 

Again, in suspending heavy skirts from the waist, 
together with the bending down of the chest walls with 
the corset, causes displacements of the organs of the 



228 



Huvian Development and Progress. 



abdomen by pushing them downward toward the pelvis, 
and interferes directly with the circulation of the blood 
by pressing upon both heart and lungs, thus crippling 
their movements. 

All these evils are daily brought to the notice of the 
practicing physician for treatment ; but he cannot 
remedy them, and they are seriously compromising the 
future of the race. The evils that flow from violated 
physiological laws most fearfully increase through 
heredity; and the woman who injures her own constitu- 
tion by violations of these laws will hand down more 
serious injury to her offspring. 

What, let me ask you, dear young ladies, is the 
recompense that fashion can offer you for all the evils 
that flow from the . violations of physical laws ? To 
shine in the social circle for a brief period of time, cer- 
tainly will not pay you for all the pain and discomfort 
that must follow ; especially when you reflect that your 
influence has not been directed toward the true elevation 
of mankind. Nor has the applause you have gained 
been bestowed upon you by that class of persons whose 
good opinions you should strive to secure. The 
thoughtful and intelligent of both sexes can never sanc- 
tion the violations of physiological laws, even if it is 
demanded by the goddess of fashion. 

Dear young ladies, let me urge you to refuse to wor- 
ship at the shrine of fashion, and apply yourselves dili- 
gently to the acquisition of that knowledge which will 
fit you for the real business of life. There is nothing 
which will so ennoble you in the estimation of the pure 
and good of both sexes, as the possession of pure hearts 
and cultivated minds. But these qualities cannot be 
obtained without persistent effort on your own parts. 



llui)ia)i Dcvclopinoit and Progress. 229 

All those traits of character which give grace, dignity 
and power to woman, are obtained only by patient, per- 
severing, self-culture. 

While your condition in life may prevent you from 
receiving the advantages of a scholastic education, there 
is no condition of life that can debar you from ob- 
taining this higher development, if you will put forth 
the necessary effort. The higher type of womanhood 
it should be your constant aim to reach, can only be 
brought about by the symmetrical development of your 
whole natures, physical, mental and moral, in strict con- 
formity to the physiological laws. And especially must 
the laws of physical development be most carefully 
studied and carried out in your lives if you expect to 
reach this higher type of womanhood. There is no 
more alarming feature in our existing civilization than 
this want of physical stamina on the part of woman. 
This physical weakness gains fearful momentum through 
heredity ; and scarcely can a mother be found who is 
raising daughters with powers of endurance equal to 
her own. 

With these facts coming to your knowledge, it cer- 
tainly becomes your bounden duty to strive to so live 
as to develop strong and vigorous physical bodies. If 
■you ask me how you are to do this, I can only refer 
you back to the first principles again. Your physical 
bodies are made up of flesh, bones, brains, nerves, and 
various internal and external organs, and all these 
various parts are made from the blood, by the operation 
of the physiological laws. 

The necessary conditions are, that you must supply 
your system with plenty of nutritious foods containing 
all the proximate principles required by all parts of the 



230 Human Dcvelop)}icnt and Prog7'ess. 

system, and in proper shape to be digested and assimi- 
lated ; that you supply your lungs at all times with pure 
air, and place no impediment to their full expansion, in 
order that they may take in a sufficient quantity of 
oxygen for the tearing down of the tissues of the body ; 
that you keep the skin clean, and its pores unobstructed 
with poisonous paints and powders. All this with a 
regular system of exercise of all parts of the body, 
alternated with suitable periods of rest and sleep, and the 
regular cultivation of the mental and moral faculties, 
will secure a sound vigorous physical organization, pro 
vided there are no hereditary defects. At any rate it 
will give you the best development that you can reach, 
and the best possible opportunities for you to live true 
and happy lives. 

To attain to this high estate you must early implant 
in your minds a fixedness of purpose that will overcome 
all obstacles. ''Life is real, life is earnest ;" and really 
and earnestly must you enter upon its duties ! Fix your 
standard high and bend all the energies of your natures 
to reach it. Improve to the utmost the priceless privi- 
leges of your season of early maidenhood. Remember 
it is self-culture, physical, mental and moral, alone, that 
can elevate you in the scale of true womanhood. No 
teacher can develop your physical body for you ; for 
this requires proper foods, exercise, and right living on 
your parts, in every particular. And the same principle 
holds good in the development of the mental and moral 
powers. No teacher can grow them for you, but their 
development must rest upon your own judicious self- 
culture. 

Then, if you cannot secure scholastic training, lay out 
a course of study that will give you better learning than 



HiiDiau DcvclopDicnt and Progress. 23 i 

that of the schools. No matter what your special call- 
ing may be, you can adopt a system of self-instruction 
that in a few years will prepare you to enter the best 
circles of society. If your avocations require the per- 
formance of physical labor, so much the better for you, 
as this will give you physical development ; and this is 
the foundation upon which all true development must 
rest. Do not plead that you have no time for mental 
and moral culture. This plea of want of time, says Mrs. 
Sigourney, is "the knell of all excellence. The great and 
good find time for all that appertains to greatness and 
goodness." 

By adopting a regular system in their lives all young 
ladies may spare an hour at least each day to the devel- 
opment of the mental and moral powers. This hour 
every day properly spent in a judicious system of men- 
tal and moral culture, will in a few years place you far 
above the majority of your sex, who have rested satis- 
fied with the learning acquired in school. Too many of 
these have acted the part of young robins, opening 
their mouths to whatever the parent bird may bring 
them, and whether angle-worm or caterpillar, swallow- 
ing it without scruple. But to secure mental and moral 
development the mind must digest whatever is brought 
to it. A thorough course of reading and study of the 
best authors in the language, and conversations with 
companions upon the subjects read, will wonderfully 
expand the mental powers and improve you "in the art 
of conversation. 

Let me urge you to adopt the habit of reading aloud 
whenever a number of you are collected together. No 
lady can acquire any greater accomplishment, or one 



232 Hnvian Development and Progress. 

that will command more respect and attention, than to 
become a good reader. Of all " finished " scholars our 
Schools and Colleges are yearly turning out, but very 
few have learned to be good readers. The reason is 
plain. The manner of treating this accomplishment in 
the schools, is faulty in the extreme. Too much of the 
attention of the students is directed to the proper 
pronunciation of each word and the emphasis to place 
upon it, and too little to the subject matter of what is 
being read. 

And if young ladies desire to become readers they 
should never suffer themselves to peruse a single 
sentence without attaching some meaning to it. In fact 
but little progress can be made in the acquisition of any 
knowledge from reading, without the formation of this 
habit of catching the meaning of the authors you are 
reading. To do this successfully requires long con- 
tinued practice, and effort on the part of the student ; 
but no substantial progress can be made in the acquisi- 
tion of knowledge unless the attention can be thus con- 
centrated upon the subject as the eye glances over the 
pages. 

Certainly the acquisition of knowledge is all impor- 
tant to that sex, in whose tutorship is placed the early 
years of the entire race of manhood. Says Mrs. Sigour- 
ney in her Letters to Young Ladies, "there was a period 
when humble industry and virtuous example, were all 
society demanded of woman. That period is past. 
Education in conferring new privileges, erected a tribu- 
nal where each recipient is summoned to give account 
of her stewardship. The very children of the log cot- 
tages throughout the land, obey the injunction of one of 



Hill) I an Dcvclopiuoit ami Progress. 233 

its departed politicians, and make a crusade against 
ignorance." It is the province of woman to be the 
leader in this grand crusade. Here is the true field 
of woman's labor. This is the glorious mission she is 
to fill. Then how all important it is, young ladies, 
that now in the years of your early maidenhood, you 
prepare yourselves to fill this glorious mission. 



31 



CHAPTER XIV 



Counsel to Youna: Ladies Continued — Proper Course of Reading For 
Young Ladies— Light Literature Should Not Engross Too Much 
Time— The Physical Sciences Should Form Part of the Course 
— Biographj^ and History Not to Be Neglected— Household 
Science an Important Stud.y — Business x\vocations Open to 
Women — Examplesof Women Who Were Successful in Business 
Pursuits — The Cultivation of the Christian Graces. 

YOUNG ladies, if you would join in the march of 
progress, and fill your true mission in society, it 
will be necessary for you to store your minds with use- 
ful knowledge by pursuing a proper course of reading 
and study. It is all important for you to be very 
guarded in your choice of what you read. In this age 
of great multiplicity of books, young persons are very 
apt to be led astray. Especially are young ladies in 
danger of becoming enamored with novels and light 
reading. The indulgence of the taste for this class of 
reading soon destroys all desire for more solid aliment, 
and no further progress can be made in the development 
of the mental powers. Then by all means guard against 
the cultivation of this class of reading ; but seek some- 
thing more substantial and profitable. This may be 
found in some of the newer works on the physical 
sciences, and nothing will so expand the mind and cul- 
tivate the observing powers as the study of these 
physical sciences. 



Hnnia)! Developiuoit and Progress. 235 

What more delightful study for young ladies than that 
of botany, astronomy, chemistry, or some of the 
branches of natural history? With Miss Youmans' 
First Book of Botany as a text-book, any young lady 
who can read intelligently can in one season's time 
acquire such a knowledge of this science as will won- 
derfully develop the observing powers, and open her 
mind to all the beauties of nature. Take the science of 
chemistry as it is now understood and taught, and while 
it will wonderfully develop the mental powers, it will 
also give to young ladies a great amount of practical 
knowledge in relation to their particular sphere of life — 
that of domestic economy. 

And in no other direction does woman need more 
thorough training than in the management of her 
household duties. In the preparation of foods especi- 
ally does she need light. Mere routine cooking is the 
worst form of drudgery ; but when woman comes to 
comprehend the philosophy of all the operations of 
the culinary art, a new phase is put upon every thing 
she does, and the preparation of foods becomes a science 
as well as an art. And so soon as woman becomes 
conversant with this science, the greatest portion of the 
drudgery that is now attached to the business of house- 
keeping will be laid aside as not only useless but posi- 
tively injurious. 

More than one-half the labor that is now bestowed 
upon the preparation of foods for the table, is positively 
prejudicial to the health and happiness of the people, 
and the quicker it is laid aside the better it will be for 
mankind. How all important it is that the young 
ladies, who are now just emerging from parental con- 
trol, and are preparing themselves for life's duties, should 



236 Human Development and Progress. 

acquire a knowledge of that science which is in the 
direct Hne of their future field of action, and which must 
nnake so great an impression for good or evil upon the 
lives of those who are to receive daily sustenance at 
their hands. There are several recent valuable works 
on "Science in the Kitchen, "with which every young lady 
in the land should make herself perfectly familiar, so 
she can give a suitable reason for everything she does 
in the preparation of food for the table. And not only 
should young ladies study what the books say of this 
science, but they should early learn the practice of the 
art, so that when they get married, and are called upon 
to preside over a house of their own, they will be pre- 
pared to fill the new position with credit to themselves 
and satisfaction to the whole household. 

There is no way these physical sciences can be satis- 
factorily learned except by testing the truth of the 
statements by actual experiment, or by handling the 
thing described. By this means you learn all about the 
things themselves, as well as what the books say about 
them. This is especially true of botany and chemistry, 
and in fact of all branches of natural history. What 
more beautiful and interesting study for young ladies 
can be engaged in than that of botany, when pursued 
upon the plan laid down by Miss Youmans? The 
gathering of leaves and wild flowers from the forest, the 
study of all their different parts, and how the various 
species differ from each other, will most wonderfully 
quicken the observing powers, and indeed open and 
expand all the faculties of the mind. 

By all means then, let these physical sciences form a 
part of your regular course of study, as best calculated 
to fill your minds with grand conceptions of the Giver 



Human Devclopuiciit a)id Proprss. 237 

of all good who has so bountifully provided for all His 
creatures ; and by a beautiful arrangement of laws, 
binds all together in one harmonious system. 

While your course of study should include these 
physical sciences, it should not end with them ; but 
especially should it take in history and biography. No 
young lady should consider her education completed 
until she is somewhat conversant with the history of 
her own country at least ; until she becomes familiar 
with the lives of the distinguished men and women who 
have figured in its pages, and who have so largely con- 
tributed to their country's greatness and renown. 

* 'Weekly societies, organized on the plan of recapitu- 
lation, render very important assistance to those who 
are earnestly engaged in a course of history. They 
should comprise but few members, and those of some- 
what congenial taste and feeling, that no cause of 
restraint or reserve may impede the free action of the 
mind. Three or four young ladies, with one or two older 
ones, will be found an agreeable and profitable number. 

"Let the system to be pursued, and the authors to 
be studied, be a subject of mutual arrangement, and at 
the stated meeting, let each compress the substance of 
what she has read during the week, relate the principal 
events with the chronology, and as far as possible men- 
tion what was taking place at the same time in the an- 
nals of other nations. 

"Opinions dissenting from those of the historian 
should be freely given, with the reasons for such varia- 
tion, and the discussions which arise, will both serve to 
fix knowledge firmly in the memory, and aid in forming 
a correct judgment of the character and deeds of those 
whom history has embalmed. 



238 I III V2 ail Development and Progress. 

"If to read each of the same era or people pro- 
duces monotony, the history of different nations may 
be studied, or one can pursue a course of biography, 
another of mental philosophy, the natural sciences, or 
theology, and thus vary the mental banquet. From 
this partnership in knowledge, great increase of intel- 
lectual wealth will be derived, while your subjects of 
thought and conversation will be perceptibly elevated.*" 

These societies, gotten up for the purpose of mental 
improvement, are of vast interest and profit, and often 
lead to grand results. The privilege of being connected 
with a society of this kind in my early manhood formed 
one of the most powerful incentives to the acquisition 
of knowledge and the contact of mind with mind, thus 
brought together, cannot fail to be beneficial to all. 
Such societies are especially interesting and profitable in 
the study of botany, chemistry, astronomy, and the 
kindred sciences. The gathering of specimens for exam- 
ination in botany, or the performance of the simple and 
inexpensive experiment? in the chemistry of the kitchen, 
would certainly form most delightful recreation, to any 
band of young ladies who have intelligence enough to 
appreciate the grand and beautiful in nature ; and at the 
some time it would powerfully assist in that preparation 
for life's duties which society now demands of women. 

While speaking of societies for mental and moral 
improvement, let me refer you to the Society to Pro- 
mote Studies at Home, recently established in Boston. 
This society now numbers over eight hundred young 
ladies, residing in all parts of the United States, who 
are thus greatly assisted and advised as to a proper sys- 



*Mrs. Sigourney, Letters to Young Ladies. 



Ii'nindfi Dci'i-IopDioit ami Progress. 239 

tern of studies to be pursued to reach a higher degree 
of excellence. Some of the noblest and best women of 
Boston were instrumental in establishing this noble enter- 
prise. Let other ladies, in other parts of the country, 
who are qualified for the work, establish similar organi- 
zations in all parts of the land. Hundreds of compe- 
tent women are sighing for greater fields of labor and 
usefulness, while thousands of their younger sisters are 
groping their way through the world, with no guiding 
hand and loving heart to direct them in the way they 
should go. Let me say to these working women, that 
no finer field of usefulness need be sought than the for- 
mation of these societies to promote studies at home. 
Let but a few of the leading women of the nation 
organize these associations in all parts of the country 
where needed, upon the plan adopted by the Boston 
association, and in a few years the whole framework of 
society may be elevated in a wonderful degree. 

Here is a field for woman to lead in the civilization of 
the world by thus opening the way for the mental and 
moral improvement of the young of her own sex, thus 
fitting them for their true sphere in life. And especial- 
ly should the minds of young ladies be educated in 
household duties. 

A recent publication of the Boston society says : 
"See what power women have in their hands. The 
provider and the cook are life makers No office has 
such control over human power and aft'ections as theirs. 
Women are the housekeepers and provide and prepare 
the materials of life. Yet the woman, not being by 
nature a housekeeper or cook, often defers her prepara- 
tions for her office of housekeeper until she assumes the 
responsibilities, and sometimes she accepts these while 



240 HtiviaJi Devclopineut and Progress. 

yet immature and unformed in character. If she is able 
to employ some other person to bear the most important 
part of her responsibility of preparing for family nutri- 
tion, it is usually a deputy of a lower order of intelli- 
gence, and with all the far reaching results that depend 
on this class, we find the carpenters and brick-layers 
who build our houses, are paid as much for the work of 
a day as the women who build our lives are paid for the 
work of a week. As for adaptation, it is for women to 
apply themselves and to learn to make simple and nour- 
ishing food palatable, so that pies, confectionery, hot 
bread and cakes, pickles and preserves, may not so 
greatly prevail in the food of the people at large ; and let 
them remember not only that good diet is essential to 
their own ability to work, and that of the men for whom 
they provided, but that for the young under their care, 
good diet may be regarded as an essential to educa- 
tion.'"''^ 

These are noble words, and coming from the source 
they do, they should not fail to make a deep impression 
upon every woman in the nation ; and let me commend 
the example of these noble Boston ladies to all others 
of my countrywomen who are qualified to lead in the 
formation of such organizations. 

I know the plea will be raised by many young ladies 
who may read these pages, that such a course of study 
and training as is here laid down, is utterly impossible 
for them to follow, as the cares and duties of the home 
life will make it impossible. But by adopting a proper 
system in the home duties, and the laying aside every- 
thing tending to wasteful and extravagant display, there 
is no doubt but the time and means can be secured 



•^Herald of Health, for September, 1879. 



HiiDian DcvclopDioit a}id Progress. 241 

by almost every youn<j lady in the land, to carry out 
the course of reading and study indicated in these pages. 
Some of the brightest lights which adorn the pages of 
your country's history, are females who rose from the 
very depths of poverty and obscurity to the highest 
seats of eminence, by their own unaided efforts. The 
two sisters, Alice and Phebe Carey, are noble examples 
of this kind. Their struggles and triumphs are worthy 
of your closest study and emulation. 

What a beautiful and noble example is the now justly 
revered Lucretia Mott. Being early impressed with the 
claims of the Christian religion, she made the sacred 
Scriptures a portion of her daily study. Spending every 
moment she could spare from the regular daily routine 
of duties, in mental and moral improvement, she soon 
became one of the most renowned preachers in the 
Quaker Church. Early recognizing the wrongs and 
evils of our system of American slavery, she was 
always a strong and consistent advocate of emancipa- 
tion, and most persistently urged it upon her country- 
men — sometimes even to the endangering of her life. 
Adopting a plain and simple dietary, together with plain- 
ness in dress, in early life, all her thoughts and feelings 
were pure and good ; her whole life has been spent in 
striving to purify and elevate mankind ; and now, at the 
advanced age of eighty-seven years, with her mental 
powers still unclouded, and in the enjoyment of good 
physical health, she can joyfully look back over a hfe 
well spent, and can quietly await the summons of the 
Great Master, ' 'Well done, good and faithful servant, 
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

Let these, and kindred spirits, be your study and your 

32 



242 Human Dcvelopuictit and Progress. 

models for imitation, rather than the butterflies of fash- 
ion, who flaunt their gay trappings in the social circles 
for a brief period of time, and then retire from view, 
leaving no sacred memories behind them. Remember, 
woman's province is to teach ; and the lineaments of 
her teaching will be impressed upon generations yet un- 
born. 

Dear young hearts, are you sufficiently impressed 
with the importance of your mission ; of preparing 
yourselves for it while your minds are pliant and active ? 
You cannot teach to posterity what you have not learned 
yourselves ; if society is to become purer and wiser 
through your instrumentality, you must early strive to 
become pure and wise yourselves. 

In all your intercourse with the young of the opposite 
sex, must you be most guarded and prudent. That the 
social intercourse of the sexes in this country is lament- 
ably indiscreet and impure, there is no question ; its 
purification must rest with you. Prepare yourselves for 
this work by adopting a plain and simple course of life 
in all things. Use only pure and unstimulating foods, 
and adopt a regular system of exercise, both physical 
and mental, in order that your own passions may not 
gain the ascendency in your lives. Let the moral feel- 
ings control you in all things. But to do this, the men- 
tal and moral faculties must be more highly developed 
by cultivation, than the appetites and passions. Study 
the true physiological laws, and bring your whole life in 
harmony with them. In no other way can you make 
safe and satisfactory progress, or prepare yourselves for 
the true mission of life. 

BeHeving as I do that the purest happiness, the most 
extended opportunities for usefulness, are to be found 



Human Dcvdopimiit and Progress. 243 

in married life, yet I would have you prepared to live 
independently of marriage. Girls are too often brought 
up and trained by ambitious parents with special refer- 
ence to the securing of eligible matrimonial matches ; 
and too often theii» happiness and usefulness are sacri- 
ficed on the altar of worldly ambition. 

Learn some business avocation, by which you can 
earn an independent livelihood without the assistance of 
a husband ; and the young man that is worthy of you 
will be more likely to seek you out and claim you for a 
bride. Almost all branches of business are now open- 
ed to woman, and many fair ladies are rising to distinc- 
tion in all the walks of life. 

Some years ago I knew an elderly married lady in 
Brookston, a small village in White County, Ind., who 
came there in 1854 with her husband and son. The 
husband had failed in business in Terre Haute, and by 
the influence of friends had received the appointment of 
R. R. Agent at Brookston. But his health failing, he 
was compelled to give up his business to his son. The 
wife was far advanced in consumption, had a most dis- 
tressing cough, and seemed destined to speedily pass 
from earth. But having a wonderful ambition, she pur- 
chased two vacant lots, and getting them enclosed and 
ploughed, she commenced raising flowers for market, 
with the labor of her own hands. In. two years time, 
without any assistance whatever, she had one of the 
most beautiful parterre of flowers that could be found 
in the state ; and while supporting herself and husband, 
her health had greatly improved. 

Why is it that so few young ladies are to be found 
engaged in the cultivation of flowers as a business ? 
Certainly nothing can be more attractive and appropri- 



244 Hinnaii Development and Progress. 

ate, and if near or in a city, the business may be made 
very remunerative. Let me give another instance 
where a lady becomes a successful fruit-raiser. 

'^Miss Minnie E. Austin, for many years teacher in 
Chicago and San Francisco high schools, also princi- 
pal of Clarke Institute, San Francisco, from failing 
health, turned her attention to an out-door life. She 
now superintends a fruit farm of 80 acres in Fresno, 
Cal., and has this spring, 1879, set in the ground by 
the aid of one man, over 600 fruit trees. Miss Austin 
conducts her farm with as much system as she did her 
school. 

''She has twenty-six acres of the best raisin grapes, 
finely cultivated, from which the yield will be between 
30 and 50 tons of fruit, all of •which this enterprising 
lady will convert into good raisins. She has about 300 
apricot trees, 100 nectarines, 400 figs, 400 prunes, and 
all ordinary fruit trees. She has this year, nearly two 
tons of peaches alone, which she is drying for market. 
She finds time to read the leading magazines and papers 
which cover the table in the coziest farm-house parlor 
I ever entered, says the writer of the article, and she 
graces her work by charming conversation. 

" I feel so much interested in this lady's work, that I 
determined to write you about her, so that other wo- 
men may be induced to take out-of-door labor without 
fear of unsexing themselves. This lady farmer is mod- 
est and unpretending, while liberal and free-thinking."* 

Let these examples stimulate you to select some 
branch of business, congenial to your taste ; then strive 
to become successful in it. Make your whole lives emi- 

•:' Herald of Health for September 1879. 



Htwiayi DrcclopDient and Progress. 245 

nently practical. Cultivate habits of industry in your 
early years, and then if labor becomes a necessity, it will 
not be difficult for you to take hold of whatever may 
be necessary for you to do. 

But above all things else, let purity and chastity 
shine forth wherever you are, and in whatever you do. 
Then will your example and your influence be always 
pure and ennobling, and your declining years be crown- 
ed with peace, joy, and contentment. But if your 
highest ambition is to shine in the halls of fashion, soon 
this privilege will pass away from you, and you will be 
left desolate indeed. 

Whatever may be said of the natural depravity of 
man, woman's nature ever impels her to the perform- 
ance of all the Christian graces. Dear young hearts, 
do no violence to this inherent principle of your 
natures, but cherish and cultivate and develop it, until 
it will shine forth in all your actions. Remember you 
are stamping your lineaments upon the world of man- 
kind ; and long after you have gone to recerve your 
reward, the influence you have left behind you, will be 
moulding and shaping human character. Be true, then, 
to the womanly instincts of your natures. It is in the 
power of all the good to know, by a reference to living 
experience, the truth of that Gospel which has for its 
objects, "Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth, 
good will to men." Your souls are possessed of an 
irrepressible hunger for good, which no earthly enjoy- 
ment can satisfy, no religious theory appease. These 
then, ought not to be depended on from their inabihty 
to perform for us that w^hich we all so greatly need. 
And all observation and experience goes to prove, that 
love is the principle by which all human beings are 



246 Hiimmi Development and Progress. 

made affectionate, that humility makes them humble, and 
kindness makes them kind. These are realities of unde-. 
niable efficacy, and are knowable with positive cer- 
tainty. Cultivate these Christian graces and they will 
make you affectionate, humble and kind, and will place 
your influence on the side of purity and goodness. 

I cannot more fittingly close what I have to say to - 
you, than by quoting the beautiful language of Mfs. 
Sigourney in her ''Letters to Young Ladies;" 

"And now cherished and lovely beings, just com- 
mencing to ascend the hill of life, looking around you, 
like timid and beautiful strangers, for the greenest paths, 
or the most approved guides on your devious pilgrim- 
age, if there was a science capable of imparting 
unbounded happiness, when age disqualifies the mind 
for other researches — a science which surmounts that 
grave, where all earthly glory lays down its laurel, and 
fixes a final grasp on heaven, when earth recedes, how . 
must she be pitied who neglects its acquisition. And 
there is such a science, and there is peril in disregard- 
ing it. 

'Tf there were a book, that astonished both by its 
wisdom and its antiquity — that delighted alike by his- 
tory, oratory and poetry — in theory and illustration 
equally simple and sublime, yielding to the comprehen- 
sion of the unlearned, yet revealing to the critic the 
finger of Deity — a book which the wise have pronounced 
superior to all beside, and the learned retained for daily 
study when all others were dismissed — how anxious 
should we be to obtain it, how impatient to be made 
acquainted with its contents. And there is such a book. 
And for want of the knowledge of it, how many legions 
of the earth are but the habitations of cruelty. More 



i 



Iliniian Dci'clopjjicnt and Progicss. 247 

wisdom, and comfort, and pleasure, are to be found in 
retiring and turning your hearts from the world, and 
reading with the good spirit of God, His sacred Word, 
than in all the courts and favors of princes — said one 
who had enjoyed the pomp and distinction of a court. 

"If there were a day, when it was lawful to turn 
from all labor, vanity and care — to take home to the 
heart only those images which make it better — and to 
associate in spirit with the good of all ages — should we 
not hail its approach amid the weariness of life ? And 
there is such a day. The pious greet it as a foretaste 
of heaven's rest. The wise have pronounced it propi- 
tious, even upon their temporal concerns. 

"If there was a friend, whose sympathies never slum- 
bered, whose judgment never erred, whose power had 
no limit — a friend acquainted with all our wants, and 
able to supply them— with our secret sorrows, and 
ready to relieve them — should we not be urgent to seek 
his presence and grateful to express our desires ? And 
there is such a friend — such a mode of access. 'Eighty 
and six years have I served him,' said the venerable 
Polycarp, 'and he hath never done me aught but good.' 

"We cannot but feel that we are beings of a two-fold 
nature — that our journey to the tomb is short, and the 
existence beyond it immortal. Is there any attainment 
that we may reserve, when we lay down the body ? We 
know, that of the gold which perishes, we may take 
none with us, when dust returneth to dust. Of the 
treasures which the mind accumulates, may we carry 
aught with us, to that bourne, whence no traveller 
returns ? 

"We may have been delighted with the studies of 
nature, and penetrated into those caverns, where she 



248 Human Developvieut and Pivgress. 

perfects her chemistry in secret — composing and de- 
composing — changing matter into nameless forms — 
pursuing the subtlest essences through the air, and 
resolving even that air into its original elements — what 
will be the gain, when we pass from material to imma- 
terial, and this great museum and laboratory, the time 
worn earth, shall dissolve in its own central fires? 

"We may have become adepts in the physiology of 
man — scanning the mechanism of the eye, till light 
itself unfolds its invisible laws — of the ear, till its most 
hidden reticulations confessed their mysterious agency 
with sound — of the heart, till that citadel of life reveal 
its hermit policy ; but will these researches be available, 
in a state of being, 'which eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard — nor the heart of man conceived' ? 

"Will he who fathoms the waters, and computes their 
pressure and power, have need of this skill 'when there 
is no more sea' ? Will the mathematician exercise the 
lore, by which he measured the heavens — or the astron- 
omer, the science which discovered the stars, when 
called to go beyond their light? 

"Those who have penetrated most deeply into the 
intellectual structure of man, lifted the curtain from 
the birthplace of thought, traced the spring of action 
to their fountain, and thrown the veiled and shrinking 
motive into the crucible, perceive the object of their 
study taking a new form, entering disembodied an un- 
known state of existence, and receiving powers adapted 
to its laws, and modes of intercourse. 

"We have no proof that the sciences, to which years 
of labor have been devoted, will survive the tomb. But 
the impressions they have made — the dispositions they 
have nurtured — the good or evil they have helped to 



}{ui)ia)i Dcvclopjuoit and Progress. 249 

stamp upon the soul will go with it into eternity. The 
adoring awe, the deep humility, inspired by the plan- 
ets and their laws — the love of truth, which he cherish- 
ed, who pursued the science that demonstrates it — will 
find a response among angels and archangels. 

"The praise that was heard amid the melodies of na- 
ture — or from the lyre of consecrated genius — may 
pour its perfected tones from a seraph's harp. The 
goodness taught in the whole frame of creation — by the 
flower lifting up its honey cup to the insect, and the leaf 
drawing its green curtain around the nursing chamber of 
the smallest bird ; by the pure stream, refreshing both 
the grass and the flocks that feed on it ; the tree, and 
the master of its fruits ; the tender charity caught from 
the happiness of the humblest creature — will be at home 
in His presence, who hath pronounced himself the 
'God of love.'" 



CHAPTER XV. 



Counsel to Young Men — The Importance of Observino; the Physio- 
logical Laws in Starting Out in Lift— Character, of Commanding 
Importance — Preparation for the Business of Life — The Mental 
and Moral Powers Should Control the Life — Their Growth De- 
pendent Upon the Observance of Physiological Laws — The 
Blood must be Kept Pure — Tobacco a Great Source of Impurity, 

WE come now, young gentlemen, to commune 
with you for awhile, on the great importance of 
starting out right in your independent career in the 
world. Having followed you, along the stream of 
time, from infancy to the age of majority — to that im- 
portant period of life when you have gained your free- 
dom from parental control and management, and you 
are now supposed to be able to fight the battles of life 
unaided and alone — what is the Capital you possess to 
start you in your life's work? Do not make the mis- 
take that is so often made by young men in this matter, 
and calculate your capital from your share of the world- 
ly possessions of your parents. This is not the capital 
upon which you can rest your hopes of success in life. 
Your main dependence now, is on the character you have 
developed in the years of your minority. Whether this 
be good or bad, it must be your main dependence in 
your early struggles to reach a higher position in life. 
How wonderfully blest is that young man who can 



Hun I a) I Dei'clopnioit and Progress. 251 

start out in life, with all the mental and moral faculties 
of his nature thoroughly cultivated and developed, and 
strong enough to control the life, and sustained by a 
good physical organization. There is no legacy you 
can receive from parents of such comm3nding impor- 
tance as this ; and although you may be entirely desti- 
tute of worldly goods, your prospects in life are bright 
and cheering. All over your country, the services of 
young men of culture and character are needed ; and if 
along with your character you have acquired a knowl- 
edge of some branch of honest industry, so you can 
take your place at once in the world's great workshop, 
you are most favorably situated indeed. 

If your parents and the state have failed to give you 
this advantageous position, then your first duty will be 
to prepare yourself for some useful occupation ; for 
your country needs no drones or idlers in its workshop. 
There can be no greater mistake made by any young 
man, than the adoption of the wretched fallacy, so often 
brought forward, that the country owes you a living, 
and therefore it is useless to put forth any effort to gain 
what is already justly due. The country owes you noth- 
ing, until you have made it your debtor by honest and 
profitable service, in some reputable calling ! Therefore, 
the first duty of your independent career, is to prepare 
yourself for the contemplated business of life. Just 
what that particular business shall be, does not matter 
so much, provided it is congenial to your tastes, and 
your organization and training are such as to enable you 
to make it a success. If your tastes and inclinations lead 
you to engage in some business requiring manual labor, 
rather than in intellectual pursuits, do not shrink from 
the special calling, from the false idea that labor is dis- 



252 HiiDian Devclopvieiit and Progress. 

reputable ; that you are too nobly born to soil your 
hands with work. Nobility is not the exclusive posses- 
sion of Kings and Princes. 

" For all the sons of men are sons of God— 
Noi^limps a beggar but is nobly born, 
Nor wears a slave a yoke, or Czar a crown. 
That makes him more, or less, than just a man." 

No one is degraded by honest toil. All avocations 
requiring manual labor are conducive to the highest 
state of development that man can reach. 

Having decided upon your life's work, it is important 
that you adopt a proper system of operations from the 
very beginning. Thoughtless and careless proceedings 
now, are too apt to become fastened upon you as habits 
which will cling to you most tenaciously through life. 
Hence, it is not only necessary that you adopt a system 
of operations, but to be successful your system must be 
based upon the immutable laws of life. This is just as 
necessary now, as in the earlier years of your life ; if 
your parents failed to base your early training in har- 
mony with these laws, there is then greater necessity of 
your shaping your whole future life in conformity to 
them. No satisfactory results can be reached by any 
other course than this. If the lower and baser faculties 
of your natures were allowed to gain the ascendency in 
your earlier years, it will take a terrible struggle for you 
now to place the moral faculties in control of your ac- 
tions. But remember, the struggle is worth all and 
more than it will cost. If you would not have your 
whole life a most ignoble failure, this battle must be 
fought and won. There is no other way for you to 
reach the full measure of your manhood, than by basing 
all your actions upon the immutable principles of moral 



Hiafian Dci'clop)ncnt a)id Progress. 253 

rectitude. But to secure this result the moral faculties 
must be cultivated and developed more than the appe- 
tites and passions. As the mental and moral faculties 
distinguish man from all the brute creation, so these 
faculties must control his life, or he can never arrive to 
the dignity of true manhood. 

We here find that the growth and development of 
these mental and moral faculties are somehow dependent 
upon the growth and development of their physical 
basis in the brain. If there is no growth of brain sub- 
stance, there can be no growth of the mental and moral 
powers. We can see an illustration of this fact in the 
case of the idiot. Through some special vice or phys- 
ical defect, stamped upon the organism by hereditary 
taint or some other cause, there can be no development 
of the central hemispheres of the brain, where the men- 
tal and moral powers are located. Consequently there 
can be no mental and moral development. But in all 
cases where there is a perfect physical organism, the 
proper and judicious use of all the necessary conditions 
of brain development will always bring it about. But 
what are these necessary conditions ? 

Physiologists tell us the brain, like all the solids of 
the body, is derived directly from the blood ; therefore 
the blood must contain all the elements required to 
build up a healthy brain. If we were to analyze the 
brain substance, we would find it to consist of carbon, 
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and 
iron, with very small quantities of some others. But if 
we were to take all these elementary substances and 
mix them together in the exact proportions they exist in 
the brain, and inject the compound into the current of 
the blood it would not add one iota to the brain, or any 



2 54 Hiinimi Development and Progress. 

other tissue of the body. No substance can enter into 
the composition of any part of the human body until it 
has been first vitahzed by the vegetable and converted 
into organic compounds. 

Plants alone have the power of taking the non-organ- 
ized elements, and with the aid of sunlight, converting 
them into organized compounds, suitable for the build- 
ing up of the brain, and other tissues of the body. 
Now these vegetable organic compounds that contain 
the elements, of which the brain is made up, must be 
prepared as food and eaten ; when, after passing through 
the process of digestion and assimilation in man's or- 
ganization, they are Jn proper condition to enter the 
blood and build up healthy brain tissue. The blood 
must not only be supplied with the necessary organic 
compounds for the growth of the brain and tissues of 
the body, but the faculties located in the brain must be 
cultivated and exercised, in order to produce perfect 
development. The regular exercise of the mental and 
moral powers is just as necessary to their growth, as 
that the blood shall contain the essential organic com- 
pounds to build up the brain structure. And the young 
man who expects to secure a well developed brain with- 
out the regular and judicious exercise of the mental and 
moral powers, will certainly find himself mistaken, 
when it may be too late to remedy the evil. 

The cultivation and use of the mental and moral fac- 
ulties, implies the destruction of a portion of the brain 
where the faculties are located, and imposes the neces- 
sity of furnishing an abundance of new material to re- 
build the part destroyed, or these faculties will become 
weakened and enfeebled. This new material is to be 
supplied to the blood, by partaking of suitable foods. 



Human Devclopjnr.nt and Progress. 255 

with the observance of aU the necessary conditions to 
secure its digestion and assimilation. By this means 
the brain is supphed with a relatively fixed amount of 
energy-yielding matter, which every active use of the 
mental and moral faculties partially consumes, and 
which requires constant repair, in order to keep the 
faculties to their normal standard. Should the material 
be supplied to the brain, and there is no exercise of the 
mental and moral faculties, then the material will be 
used in the undue exercise of some of the lower facul- 
ties, and such a man will be constantly retrograding. 
On the contrary if the mental and moral faculties be 
kept regularly and judiciously exercised, there will be 
constant progression and improvement ; for the brain, 
like the muscles, is always better in proportion to its 
newness. 

If you would secure the full development of the men- 
tal and moral powers, the blood must not only be sup- 
plied with an abundance of energy-yielding material for 
brain growth, but it must be kept pure and uncontami- 
nated with poisonous substances. No fact in the science 
of life is better established than that impurities in the 
blood, circulating through the brain, will interfere with 
its normal healthy action ; that pure thoughts and feel- 
ings can hardly emanate from such a brain. "The 
stream cannot rise higher than its fountain nor can it be 
purer than its source." All the forms of insanity, and 
mental derangement of all kinds, are now known to pro- 
ceed from some disease of the brain itself; or disturb- 
ance of the regular circulation of the blood through it; 
or what is more frequently the case, the circulation of 
blood containing impurities ; and especially substances 
that render it too thick to circulate freely through the 



256 Hid nan Development^ and Progress. 

delicate network of capillaries in the brain ; thus pro- 
ducing congestions and enlargement of this wonderful 
organ of the mental and moral powers. 

The muttering delirium of typhoid fever is produced 
by the poison circulating in the blood. The ravings of 
the drunkard are the result of the stimulation of the 
alcohol upon the gray matter of the central hemispheres 
of the brain, while circulating with the blood through it. 
And all the light that science has thrown upon this sub- 
ject, goes to confirm the teaching of revelation that 
'''the blood is the life,'' and that impurities in the blood, 
coursing through that wonderful organ of the mental 
and moral powers — the brain — will produce mental and 
moral disturbances, as certainly as it will lead to phys- 
ical disease. This being true, how very important it is 
that young men, especially, should know and understand 
the most frequent sources of the impurities that find 
their way into the blood, and how they may be avoided. 

There are various channels through which impurities 
may enter the blood : through the inspired air, and 
drinking water ; neither of which are found perfectly 
pure in nature. But the most common and serious 
mode of blood contamination, comes from the vicious 
indulgences of the people. And in this country there 
is nothing perhaps, that produces such ruinous effects 
upon the physical organism and mental powers of those 
who indulge in its use, as tobacco ; and how its use 
could have reached to such gigantic proportions among 
civilized ^oples, is only another evidence of how little 
the reasoning powers have to do in determining the 
actions of men. 

All authorities agree in classing this agent as a most 
powerful sedative poison ; and I presume the verdict of 



Human Dcvelopnieiit a) id Progress. 257 

every man, when he used it for the first time, must 
have agreed with the authorities. Dr. Pereira says in 
his work on Materia Medica, "that in small doses it 
causes a sensation of heat in the throat and a feeling of 
warmth in the stomach. In larger doses it provokes 
nausea, vomiting and purging, together with a distress- 
ing sensation of sinking at the pit of the stomach. But 
the most remarkable effects are languor, feebleness, 
relaxation of muscles, trembling of the limbs, great 
anxiety and tendency to faint. The ideas become con- 
fused, the pulse small and weak, the respiration some- 
what labored, the surface cold and clammy." 

Dr. Dunglison says in his Therapeutics, that when 
smoked not only does the nicotia (which is the active 
principle) pass into the lungs, but the empyreumatic oil 
of the weed, which is also an active poison, as found in 
the pipe of the smoker. The effect is a most powerful 
sedative, making its impression upon nerves of the 
bronchial tubes with which it comes in contact, whence 
the impression radiates to every part of the system. 
And Hke all other vicious practices, its most serious 
effects are entailed upon the offspring. Dr. B. W. 
Richardson says in his work on "The Diseases of Mod- 
ern Life," "That I do not hesitate to say that if a com- 
munity of both sexes, whose progenitors were finely 
formed and powerful, were to be trained to the early 
practice of smoking, and if marriage were confined to 
the smokers, an apparently new and a physically inferior 
race of men would be bred up." And he might very 
truthfully have added that along with the physical 
inferiority there would be indissolubly linked a lowering 
of the mental and moral forces. Another very serious 
34 



258 Hinnan Development mid Progress. 

charge against the habit of tobacco smoking is its effect 
upon the function of respiration. "Tobacco smoking 
directly and fearfully lessens the breathing capacity. 
Now the available life force of every living being is pre- 
cisely in the ratio of the development of the respiratory 
organs. But the lungs resist the entrance of air into 
them when impregnated with foul stenches or poisonous 
substances. Let any one uncontaminated by its use, 
enter 3 room where several persons are smoking, and in 
a moment he will find himself breathing short and labo- 
riously. He will experience a sense of suffocation, and 
perhaps feel an inclination to sneeze, retch or vomit. 
His lungs expand with difficulty. They do not kindly 
receive the deadly narcotic. Inhalation is feeble and 
imperfect, while expiration is more forcible and com- 
plete. And thus the lungs are exercised in just the 
manner gradually and surely to contract the diameter of 
the chest and permanently diminish the respiratory 
capacity." 

"And as our whole population is more or less exposed 
to an atmosphere strongly impregnated with tobacco 
effluvia, the vital function of respiration cannot fail to 
suffer a continued deterioration. And all that is neces- 
sary to insure the ruin of the human race at no distant 
day, is the increase of the habit of tobacco using as 
rapidly as it has increased for three centuries past, or 
as rapidly as it is increasing at the present time. Fright- 
ful examples of this possible result may be seen in 
droves of young men in all of our cities and large vil- 
lages. 

"Look at the swarms of young men — young in years, 
but old in vital conditions — who commenced this horrid 
practice in early life; and thousands do commence it 



Hum an De^'cIopDuiit and Progress. 259 

even before the age of puberty. To the eye of the iii- 
telHgent physiologist these young men — mere boys in 
the order of nature — are prematurely old and already 
in a decline. 

"I have seen thousands of tobacco using young men, 
of twenty to twenty-five years of age according to the 
almanacs, who were physiologically and for all practical 
purposes, older than their fathers and grandfathers were 
at fifty to sixty years of age. A large proportion of 
tobacco using young men are dwarfed in body and 
mind irrecoverably ; and should they unfortunately 
become husbands and fathers, their wives may well be 
pitied, while their offspring will, in most cases, be con^ 
stitutionally frail and precociously dissolute, and many 
of them imbecile, if not idiotic. 

"Many of these young men have the characteristics 
of dissoluteness and sensuality stamped indelibly on 
the physiognomy as well as the physiology. And with 
many of them — indeed all to a greater or less extent — 
their secretions are all morbid, their excretions defec- 
tive ; their whole mass of blood foul, their breath fetid, 
their sweat nauseous, and their whole person offen- 
sive."* 

This is a terrible picture of tobacco smokers, and 
while it may be overdrawn in some particulars, I fear it 
is too near the truth to^be called in question by those 
who have investigated the subject. 

The rationale of the effect of tobacco smoking upon 
respiration is explained by the physiology of the nasal 
passages. "The object of smell is two-fold. In the first 
place it is an anticipatory taste, and guides us toward 



=:=Dr. Trail. 



26o Iliivian Development mid Progress. 

those objects which are useful for food, while it strongly 
repels us from those which will prove injurious. This 
is accomplished by the nasal membranes being supplied 
with regular sensory nerve fibres. In the second place 
the object of smell is premonitory of the effect upon 
the lungs of the gases inhaled ; being gratified by those 
of a pure and healthy nature, while it is vitiated by 
such as will prove prejudicial to the blood or pulmonary 
tissues. This last effect is accomplished by the mem- 
brane being supplied with nervous influence ■ from the 
olfactory or special nerve of smell."* 

Here it may be seen that nature has guarded the 
safety of the human constitution in every direction, if 
man will only heed her warning voice. When the 
smoking of tobacco commences, the olfactory nerves 
admonish the lung tissue that the gas that arises from 
the tobacco is prejudicial to the system, and they con- 
sequently resist full inspirations of such an atmosphere, 
and perfect breathing is impossible. Not only does 
tobacco smoking prove prejudicial to the function of 
respiration, but by its effect upon the nervous system it 
seriously disturbs the action of the heart. 

Having for many years been engaged in examinations 
for life insurance companies, I have frequently been 
startled at the sad havoc the habit makes upon the phys- 
ical organizations of those who indulge in its use, and 
no doubt a majority of the sudden deaths that are now- 
becoming so very numerous, are the result of the effect 
of tobacco upon the action of the heart, and which are 
placed in the bills of mortality as paralysis of the heart. 
And the earlier in life the habit is formed, the more dis- 

*Dr. Grant Allen— Physiological Aesthetics. 



Hiivia?i Dn'clopmoit and Progress. 261 

astrous are its effects; and worse than all, it is the youth 
of the land that are now mostly addicted to its use. 

If we will look back to the origin of the habit, we find 
it originated with the savage tribes of this country, and 
it no doubt grew out of the imperfect mode of living of 
these peoples. In fact all vicious and abnormal indul- 
gences seem to originate in this way. So long as the 
system is kept in a normal condition, there will be no 
demand for anything but pure and proper food to satisfy 
the appetite, and only pure water to quench the thirst. 

Whenever the system is allowed to get into an abnor- 
mal condition by wrong living, the appetite becomes 
depraved, and may demand the most dangerous poisons 
to satisfy it. For example, let a person eat an inordi- 
nate quantity of imperfect food ; the stomach not being 
able to digest it, painful and disagreeable sensations are 
produced, and now there comes a longing and craving 
for something to quiet the uneasy feelings. Just here 
the sedative and narcotic effect of the tobacco serves ' 
this purpose most admirably, and quiets the uneasiness 
until the unnatural and extravagant amount of food is 
carried out of the system. And now the question may 
be asked, does not the tobacco then answer a good pur- 
pose in the economy of life, by quieting pain and dis- 
tress ? To answer this question in the affirmative would 
be to imply that two wrongs could make one right, 
which no sound-minded person believes. The first 
wrong of eating excessively of imperfect foods should 
not have been indulged in, and then there would have 
been no necessity for the obnoxious antidote. 

Here then we can see how intimately all our vicious 
habits and indulgences are connected with each other, 
and how one bad habit is almost certain to lead to 



262 Ihinian Dcvclopnioit and Progress. 

others. Let us trace the natural consequences that may 
flow from the first offense against the true physiological 
laws — the excessive eating of imperfect foods. We 
have seen, that to quiet the uneasy feelings, caused by 
the excessive amount of food, that recourse was had to 
tobacco smoking ; and the imperfect food being but 
partially digested, does not answer the full wants of the 
system ; and the smoking not aiding any in the diges- 
tion, the vital force falls below the normal healthy stand- 
ard of health. Here the tobacco would fail, because 
its sedative action would still farther lower the vital 
force ; and now artificial stimulants must be resorted to, 
and alcoholic liquors are found to answer the purpose 
better than any other known substance. Thus another 
vicious habit is fastened upon the people. And just 
here, from a too common departure from the true phys- 
iological laws, the two most pernicious habits that 
afflict humanity, take their origin. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Counsel to Young Men Continued — The Formation of Bad Habits 
and Their Connection — Labor and Kest — The Social Principle — 
The Society of Woman Necessary to Man— Marriage the Normal 
Condition — System All-Important — Living for a Purpose — Want 
of This a Common Cause of Failure — Necessity of Building up 
a Pure Physical Organism — The Mental and Moral Faculties 
To Be the Controling Lifiuence In the World. 

AND now dear young friends, if you would live true 
and noble lives, you must study the true physiolog- 
ical laws, and strive to bring your whole life in harmony 
with them. It will not do to ignore the physical body 
and the laws by which its normal development is se- 
cured. If you would have a sound and vigorous mind, 
you must build up a sound and vigorous body and 
brain. 

If you will look out upon the world of mankind, you 
will find that all the suffering and wretchedness that 
meets your gaze everywhere, may be traced to viola- 
tions of the laws that God has instituted for man's 
government. The eating of imperfect and unsuitable 
foods ; an imperfect and vicious system of clothing the 
body; the breathing of a noxious and impure atmos- 
phere ; the imperfect and injudicious exercise of mind 
and body, unattended with suitable periods of rest ; the 
want of sufficient sleep at proper intervals of time ; the 



264 Iliiviaii Development and Progress. 

introduction of noxious and poisonous substances in 
the blood through eating and improper indulgences — 
these are the causes that are filling the world with phys- 
ical pain and suffering, and moral pollution. The mor- 
al nature is indissolubly linked to the physical body 
during life ; and you cannot soil the one without pollut- 
ing the other. How all-important it is then, that 
young men give the most watchful care to keep their 
physical bodies pure and unpolluted. In your years of 
minority, while under the control and management of 
your parents and teachers, unless your training was far 
above the average, the principle of self-control and self- 
denial has been but little cultivated ; and without these 
two faculties are well developed, and the moral princi- 
ple thoroughly aroused, your appetites and passions will 
almost certainly control the life and lead you into all 
sorts of excesses. 

Then it will be necessary for you to institute the most 
searching self examination, and endeavor to curb every 
appetite and passion that has become strong enough to 
control your actions. There is perhaps no harder duty 
that young men are called on to perform, than this ; es- 
pecially if the moral faculties have not been well devel- 
oped in early life, and the living has been such that it 
produced undue development of the appetites and pas- 
sions. This being the case, the first step toward reform 
must be a complete change in the life, which must be 
brought under subjection to the true physiological laws. 
The moral principle cannot control the actions while 
the whole life of the individual is so directed as to inor- 
dinately feed and develop the appetites and passions. 

To do this, the strictest dietetic regimen must be 
adopted, along with a system of proper exercise, alter- 



Hui)ia)i DevclopDicut and Progress. 265 

nated with regular periods of rest, together with the 
necessary bathing, to keep the skin in active working 
order. By these means the blood may be restored to 
its normal healthy condition ; and then by judicious cul- 
tivation of the mental and moral faculties, new feelings 
and aspirations will gradually take the place of the low- 
er appetites and passions in your lives, and you will be 
introduced into a higher and nobler realm of thought 
and feeling, than you have ever before experienced, and 
the whole tenor of your lives will be made joyous and 
happy. 

But do not conclude you can get the mastery of your 
appetites and passions while you continue to so live as 
to feed and nourish them. This is the rock upon which 
so many thousands of young men have been wrecked 
and ruined. Finding themselves daily yielding to some 
vicious appetite or propensity, they resolve that by the 
mere force of their wills, they will abandon the evil 
habit, without changing the course of life that gave it 
birth. But not one in a hundred succeed in this ; and 
they find themselves continuing to yield obedience to 
the besetting sin. 

The will always yields to the strongest force ope- 
rating upon it at the time ; and no mere resolves can 
change the verdict. The obnoxious force that is ope- 
rating upon the will, must be weakened by a complete 
change in the life, before the will can be brought under 
subjection to the moral sense. To pray to the Heaven- 
ly Father to take away the besetting sin, while you 
knowingly continue to live in open violation of the 
physiological laws He instituted for your government, 
and which continues to feed and strengthen the besetting 
35 



266 Human Dcvclopvicnt and Progress. 

sin, is not only offering insult to God, but is contrary 
to the dictates of common sense and common honesty. 
God, in his wisdom, in instituting the physiological 
laws, so arranged them as to produce the best possible 
results to the individual and the race ; and to ask Him 
to set them aside, or nullify their force, in order that 
you may continue in the indulgence of some special 
vice, without incurring the penalty, is showing a sad 
lack of faith in God's wisdom and goodness, and is not 
creditable to you as rational beings. 

But you may desire to know what particular changes 
will be necessary to make in your lives, that will most 
strengthen and develop the moral principles, and enable 
you to curb the evil tendencies of your natures. This 
can only be done by bringing your whole lives in har- 
mony with the true physiological laws. Let your diet- 
ary be of the simplest kind, and made up of the cereals 
and finer vegetables and fruits, plainly prepared, and 
eaten in a proper manner ; that is, by thorough mastica- 
tion and insalivation and only at regular intervals of 
time. Drink nothing during meals, and only water 
between times. Always take an hour's rest after eating, 
that your food may be properly digested. Have regu- 
lar hours to labor at your special calling, but never let 
your labor deprive you of the necessary time for rest. 
Remember that while labor is necessary to producp dis- 
integration of the tissues of the body, rest is just as 
necessary to rebuild them. 

You should not devote all your time and accumulated 
capital of vital force, in physical labor, but spare some 
time every day for the improvement and continued 
development of the mental and moral powers. It is 
these mental and moral faculties that must control your 



Hn))ian Devclopnioit and Progress. 26"/ 

wills, if you would live true and noble lives ; and to do 
this their cultivation must not be neglected. 

Practice inflating the lungs to the fullest extent by 
raising the hands above the head and inhaling as much 
air as possible. Do this for several minutes every 
mojning ; and keep your skin pure and clean by proper 
bathing, and the atmosphere of your rooms as pure as 
possible by thorough ventilation. 

Make your environment as pure as possible by keep- 
ing away from the vile and impure, and by cultivating 
the society of the pure and good. And especially is it 
necessary for you to seek the society of the refined and 
intelligent of the gentler sex, if you desire to progress 
in moral excellence. A very high degree of moral 
purity can hardly be preserved among young men 
without the gentle influence of woman. That the two 
sexes exert a restraining influence upon each other is a 
fact now recognized by all persons who have given the 
subject any thought. And the young man who ignores 
the society of woman can hardly be expected to make 
much progress toward a higher and a purer life. 

But the benefit a young man receives from the society 
of woman, depends in a large measure upon the esti- 
mate he places upon her character. If he has a low 
estimate of her worth ; if he does not value her good 
opinion and friendship, theii no good can result from his 
mixing in her society. 

In early manhood, woman should be your ideal of 
moral purity; and your own dear mothers should always 
have the warmest place in your affections. Their good 
opinions and sweet counsel is worth all the world to you, 
and should ever be cherished as a most valuable legacy. 
Always show the utmost respect and attention to their 



268 Hiinian Development and Pivgress. 

wishes, and never utter a word in their presence that 
would wound their feeHngs or mar their happiness. 
And thus by showing your gallantry at home, you will 
be prepared to manifest it in the presence of woman 
everywhere. And nothing will tend so much to help 
you in the acquisition of all the graces and refinements 
that give so great a charm to true and genuine manhood, 
as the showing a delicate respect and attention to the 
pure and good of the gentler sex. By mingling in the 
society of woman, the way will be opened for you to 
choose partners for life, and build up homes for your- 
selves. 

The union of the sexes in marriage, is evidently their 
normal condition ; and if properly entered into and 
appreciated by both the parties, new and brighter vistas 
of happiness will loom up before you. I know the 
glitter and tinsel of false appearances that distinguishes 
this age and nation, makes the choosing a partner for 
life a matter of grave responsibility and great risk, 
especially if hastily and thoughtlessly entered into. But 
young men should be well versed in the knowledge of 
human nature ; and should let their judgment govern 
them in their choice, and not an idle fancy. Let Will- 
iam Penn's advice to his sons be your guide in seeking 
companions for life, "-marry for love, but be sure you 
love what is really lovely." , 

But before you are ready for marriage, you should be 
thoroughly settled in your habits, and have determined 
upon your business, and the course of life you intend to 
pursue. Let this always be in accordance with the true 
physiological laws, and it should include the continued 
culture and enlargement of the mental and moral powers. 
In your daily routine of business, set apart an hour each 



Human DcvclopDicnt and Progress. 269 

day for reading and mental improvement, and let noth- 
ing deter you from the observance of the rule. 

Some years ago, Dr. Austin, of New Albany, Ind., 
told me that forty years before, he had adopted a rule to 
spend an hour every day in the study of Masonry, and 
that in all that time he had not varied from it in a single 
instance. And yet he was a very active and prosperous 
business man. 

There is nothing of more importance to young men, 
than the adoption of a thorough system of operations 
in starting out in the world ; and then strictly adhering 
to it under all circumstances and conditions of life. 
Then if the system adopted be a prudent and judicious 
one, and it be based upon the true physiological laws, 
success in life will almost certainly be assured. But the 
great trouble with the majority of the young men of our 
country seems to be the want of any fixed purpose in 
life ; and they suffer themselves to be drifted with the 
tide that surrounds them, and they are thus carried into 
the shallows of selfish indulgences and all their fine pos- 
sibilities are lost to the world. 

Let me entreat you then, my dear young friends, to 
live for a purpose ; let that purpose be a noble one ; and 
then bend all the energies of your whole being to make 
it a success. Strive to carry sunshine into whatever 
home you may enter. Be gentle men in the full mean- 
ing of the word, and never by word or deed, purposely 
cause needless pain and suffering to any of God's crea- 
tures. But on the contrary, 

" If you have bidden the outcast, or let in 
A ray of sunshine to the cell of sin— 

If you have lent 
Strength to the weak, and in an hour of need, 
Over the suffering, mindless of your creed 

Or home have bent, 
You have not lived in vain." 



2/0 Human Development and Progress. 

It is by this active working and toiling for the true 
elevation and progress of mankind, that your own true 
elevation will most certainly be secured. Active, earnest 
interest and labor, in the cause of right, will drive away 
all the dangers and temptations that beset the pathways 
of the idle and dissolute. Life is too short, and the 
duties and responsibilities too pressing and important, 
for young men to spend their precious time in idle loi- 
tering on the street corners, or congregating in the 
haunts of wickedness and vice ; purposely exposing 
themselves to temptations and dangers. No mental and 
moral progress can be gained by such a course of life 
as this. 

If you would have mental development and power, 
you must make use of the moments as they fly, in the 
acquisition of that wisdom and knowledge that will give 
you this development and power. If you would have 
moral purity and excellence, then you must cultivate 
and develop all the pure and God-Hke faculties of your 
nature, until these will become the ruling and guiding 
principle in all your life's actions. 

But perhaps some young man upon reading this is 
ready to exclaim, that this is well enough for those who 
have plenty of tirfie and means at their command, but 
for such as are compelled to toil for bread, all this 
advice has no meaning. This is the great mistake of a 
majority of the young men of our country — that the 
time and opportunity for mental and moral culture are 
denied them, and therefore they are not responsible for 
their ignorance and their vicious conduct. No more 
unfortunate and fatal mistake can be made than this. 
There is no country in the world, that offers such grand 
opportunities to the laboring class and the poor as this 



Hu})ia}i Devclopuioit a)id Progress. 271 

favored land of yours. All the avenues of wealth and 
distinction are open to the poorest and humblest child 
of misfortune, if he can prove himself qualified and 
worthy. 

'If you will but look back over the galaxy of great 
names who have risen to the highest positions of emi- 
nence, you will find, that the great majority of them 
rose from the very depths of poverty and obscurity, by 
their own unaided efforts, to the highest positions of 
honor and of fame. Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, 
Roger Sherman, and a host of others of Revolutionary 
times, were all men of humble birth, and destitute of 
the advantages of such education as the humblest child 
in the land can now enjoy. And yet they so trained 
and developed their mental and moral powers as to rise 
to the highest pinnacle of greatness and renown. And 
all along your country's history, you can see the names 
coming to the surface, and steadily rising into eminence ; 
men, who in their early years had known only poverty 
and toil ; but possessing energy, and a determined 
spirit, the very adverse conditions and surroundings of 
their early life, proved but blessings in disguise, by act- 
ing as a stimulus to great exertions. The physical labor 
they were compelled to perform, developed strong and 
vigorous constitutions, and using every spare moment 
in the study of the few books that came into their pos- 
session, and all their habits of life necessarily being of 
the plainest and simplest kind, they developed into just 
such men as the country needed, and whose characters 
of living light, will forever remain embalmed in the 
hearts of their countrymen. 

A study of the early lives of these noble men, and of 
the terrible trials and hardships they were compelled to 



272 Hiinian Developvicnt and Progress. 

pass through, will certainly take away all force from the 
plea that you have not the time and opportunity to 
prepare yourselves for usefulness ; and it should be a 
powerful stimulus to you to put forth every exertion to 
prepare yourselves for the business of life. But if is 
not necessary that you occupy high positions in State or 
Nation to enable you to make a display of your fitness 
for life's duties. Be faithful, and honest and upright in 
your special calling, however humble it may be ; and in 
all the relations of life, show to the world that the in- 
tellect and moral principle are the governing forces in 
all your actions, and your worth will unquestionably be 
duly appreciated. 

It is this faithfulness in little things, and the honest 
and persistent performance of every known duty, that 
wins the love and respect of the people, no matter how 
far'the majority of them may be from the possession of 
these virtues themselves. The most hardened sinner 
honors and respects virtue and integrity in others. If 
you would win the respect and confidence of those with 
whom you come in contact, you must show by your 
daily walk and conversation, that you are in possession 
of these virtues. 

But the great cause of failure with the majority of 
young men, as remarked before, is the want of any 
definite purpose in life. Consequently they suffer them- 
selves to be carried along with the popular current, 
without accomplishing anything of worth, and all their 
life's forces are wasted. I know this is the fault of 
their early education and training, which should have 
discovered the peculiarities of each individual ; and 
each should have been qualified to enter upon the spe- 
cial calling for which his natural development seemed 



Human Dcvclopi)ic7it and Progress. 273 

to best fit him. But because parents and the state 
failed to prepare you for the business of hfe, do not 
conclude that you can, therefore, fold your arms and re- 
main inactive. The very fact that the age of majority 
finds you unqualified to fill any position in the world's 
great workshop, only calls for greater exertion on your 
part now, to prepare yourselves without delay for 
whatever calling you may deem the most feasible, and 
that will most nearly satisfy your desires and inclina- 
tions. 

And along with the special training for the business 
of life, do not fail to pursue a system of mental and moral 
training. If you are residents of a town or city, you can 
most probably have access to a library ; you can then 
pursue whatever course of mental training you may de- 
sire. If such should be the case, do not commit the 
too common error of indiscriminately reading every 
thing that comes in your way ; but mark out a definite 
course to pursue, and thoroughly study a few leading 
authors. Recollect it is the consumption of your brain 
substance in study and thought, that will develop men- 
tal powers, and not the attempt to cram the brain with 
the ready formed ideas of authors. 

Do not think, that because you did not receive the 
education of the schools and colleges, and are com- 
pelled to work for a living, that therefore it is impossi- 
ble for you to become learned. The celebrated Elihu 
Burritt, while learning the trade of a blacksmith, ac- 
quired a knowledge of two or three different languages ; 
and by husbanding every moment he could spare from 
his labors, and applying them to study, he became one 
of the most learned men in the nation. 
36 



2/4 HinnaJL Development and Progress. 

And all true culture must be self-culture. The brain 
is not an empty casket into which knowledge can be 
poured ; but the existing brain substance must be con- 
sumed in actual study, in order to acquire additional 
force to re-build the structure, and thus increase its de- 
velopment and power. And no coveted good can be 
received without effort on your part ; and the greater 
the good you aim at, the greater must be the effort put 
forth to possess it. And while this may seem to be a 
hard law of nature at first thought, yet a closer insight 
into the working of natural law, will show its justice 
and worth. Pleasure is always due to the unimpeded 
energies of the whole system, if not carried beyond the 
power of the system to repair the waste. 

** But man can not be satisfied, like the lower animals, 
with the simple enjoyment of such coarse bodily action 
as walking, running and leaping. He possesses, by 
hereditary transmission, a set of highly developed nerv- 
ous centres which are adapted for accurately corre- 
lating the most varied and delicate muscular actions. 
The faculties of which these centres are the governing 
organs, constantly require a proper outlet. Hence our 
inabiHty to ever indulge in that complete state of indo- 
lence which is habitual with the lower animals in the in- 
tervals of Hfe-serving functions, and which is familiar to 
us all in the cat and dog. We are perpetually impelled 
by our fully fed nervous centres to be employed upon 
some kind of occupation. Even in our congeners, the 
monkeys, this restless activity is sufficiently noticeable ; 
in the savage, it is more intelligently directed to useful 
ends ; and in the civilized man, it seeks to vent itself 
upon some higher object. 

"But when any unusual circumstances, such as a 



IIuDiaii Development and Progress. 275 

railway journey, a sea voyage, or the forced inaction of 
a waiting- room, prevent us from following our ordinary 
avocations, and deprive us of our common resources in 
reading and society, we are generally driven to amuse 
ourselves to some comparatively purposeless exercise of 
the more delicate organs of correlation. How we do 
it varies with our temperament. We may whittle a 
piece of stick into a doll or tooth-pick ; we may cut 
figures with a paper and scissors ; we may draw pencil 
sketches on our finger nails ; we may fish over the ship's 
side for sargasso weed ; we may plait the loose ends of the 
leather window strap ; we may deface the letters on the 
company's notices ; we may carve our initials on the 
woodwork ; we may smoke, bite our nails, or hum a 
tune ; but something or other we must do. 

"Under ordinary circumstances, adult men have 
enough to occupy them without such shifts ; but women 
of the upper classes are obliged to expend their super- 
fluous energies on embroidery, wool work, vitromanie, 
wood carving, leather moulding, and a thousand other 
quasi- artistic expedients. In short, the nervous struc- 
tures are there, and an appropriate object must be 
found for them. The function is imperative, because 
the structures exist; and the structures exist because 
previous function has slowly perfected them."* 

And thus you can see that the action-effort is inefface- 
ably written upon your very constitution. And the di- 
rection in which the stored up energy will expend itself, 
is also dependent upon the nervous organization you 
have built up. A coarse and sensuous nervous system, 
will always tend to coarse and vulgar habits and conduct. 

'-Physiological Aesthetics. Dr. Allen. 



276 Human Development and Progress. 

But by adopting a correct system of living in every di- 
rection, based upon the true physiological laws, and 
persistently persevered in, a wonderful change can be 
effected in your organization ; and there will be a cor- 
responding improvement in all your feelings and de- 
sires. 

Then by adopting a regular and judicious system of 
mental and moral culture, these higher faculties of your 
nature will soon be strong enough to control the life ; 
and you will experience higher and holier pleasures 
than you had ever before conceived. There is a con- 
stant relationship existing between the organization and 
the life. Build up a pure and refined nervous organiza- 
tion, keep the blood pure, and every impulse and feel- 
ing will be on the side of purity and refinement. 

To secure this pure and refined nervous organization, 
will require on your part the most careful attention to 
all the minutia of living. The food must be perfectly 
pure and refined, and must contain all the vitalized or- 
ganic compounds required by the system in proper pro- 
portions to answer all its demands ; and then it must 
be properly eaten and at proper intervals of time only. 
The air breathed into the lungs must at all times ap- 
proximate purity, or the blood will become impure 
through this channel ; and in close connection with this, 
the skin must be kept clean and in good working order, 
that the impurities, caused by the breaking down of the 
tissues, may be eliminated and cast out. Again, a reg- 
ular system of exercise of the whole organization must 
be instituted, alternated with suitable periods of rest 
and sleep, and the careful avoidance of all vicious in- 
dulgences, such as the use of spirituous liquors, tobacco, 
opium, and all stimulating condiments with the food, 



Human Development and Progress. 



•// 



and a pure ph}\sical organism and nervous system can 
not fail to be produced. 

Let young men adopt such a course of living as is 
here indicated, and persevere in it for a length of time 
and they will find all the vicious tendencies of their lives 
gradually giving way, and purer thoughts and feelings 
taking their place. I urge the adoption of this course 
upon you, my young friends, not as a matter of mere 
theory, but from actual experimental knowledge that I 
have tested in my own person. 

And if the Young Men's Christian Association 
would universally adopt these rules as a leading element 
in their teachings, and strictly adhere to them, through 
evil and through good report, there would be a most 
wonderful growth of pure and undefiled religion through- 
out the country. Such a movement on the part of the 
association, would do more to infuse correct modes of 
living among the people, and thus purify the whole 
social frame-work of society, than all other influences 
they are now putting forth for that purpose. And why 
should not these christian associations enjoin obedience 
to the physiological laws that God has instituted for 
man's government? How can they expect purity of 
life in their membership, when they allow the whole 
physical organism to become defiled by all manner of 
riotous living ? Let the association take heed in this 
matter, lest it become " blind leaders of the blind." 

There is no question but the vicious and riotous liv- 
ing of the people, is causing more backsHding from, the 
churches, and is producing more debauchery and cor- 
ruption in society, than all other influences combined. 

There can be no progress made toward a higher and 
purer life, until there is a radical change in the mode of 



2/8 Hi nil an Development and Progress. 

living adopted by the people. And it must be made to 
conform to the true physiological laws of life in all di- 
rections. 

And I am sure there is no class of young men so 
corrupt, but at times they must have yearning desires 
to attain to this higher and purer life. Human nature 
is so constituted that man can not always rest satisfied 
with the pleasures that flow from the gratification of the 
mere animal desires and appetites ; but the immortal 
principle will rise up and demand recognition. Culti- 
vate and develop this better part of your natures, if 
you would now fill your true mission in the world. The 
mental and moral nature of man is henceforth to be the 
controlling influence in the world. In the early history 
of your country, the young man who had muscle and 
pluck, could go forth into the wilderness and carve 
out for himself a name and a fortune. But the age of 
muscle is fast giving place to the age of brain; and the 
young man who now desires to rise in the world must 
have a cultivated mind and a pure heart. All the ave- 
nues of success are pointing upward, and Excelsior is 
the watchword of the age. 

Unswerving honesty of purpose, enlargement and 
culture of the mental and moral powers, together with 
the faithful performance of every duty, constitutes the 
true life ; and these are the foundation stones upon 
which success is now to be reared. One hundred years 
ago our forefathers proclaimed to the world the grand 
truth, that man should be the possessor of his own per- 
son and the arbiter of his own destiny. And after a 
century of struggle and of toil, this is now the glorious 
birthright of every American citizen; and yet, with 
shame be it said, hundreds of these citizens are selling 



Ihiuuvi Dr.'ilopmoit and rivgnss. 279 

this glorious birthright for worse than a mess of pot- 
tage, and are writhing under bondage to the lowest of 
groveling appetites. 

Is it not time the young men of this nation were pre- 
paring for a new Declaration of Independence ? Let 
me urge you, dear young friends, to resolve at once, 
that henceforth and forever, you will be free from every 
polluting influence that will tend to tarnish your glori- 
ous heritage. Struggle for a purer life and a nobler 
manhood, and your efforts will not be in vain. Throw 
off every retarding influence, by bringing your whole 
life in harmony with the physiological laws, and all 
your aspirations will lead 3'^ou toward a better and 
purer life. It is too late in the world's history for 
young men to waste their precious time waiting for 
golden opportunities, by which to rise in the world ; 
but put forth your efforts, and they will make opportu- 
nities. It is only by unceasing effort in the cause of 
right, and living true to the physiological laws, that 
moral growth can be secured. It is not wealth, or place, 
or position, that will give you character in the world ; 
this must be the result of your own efforts. Remem- 
ber that 

" Honor and shame from no condition rise, 
Act well YOUR parts— there all the honor lies." 



CHAPTER X Y I I . 



The Vices and Corruptions of Societj'— Their Increase Along With 
the Growth of Civilization — The Causes that Produce Them 
— Agencies to Be Evoked for Their Cure— The Church — The 
Medical Profession — The Public Press — The Public School — The 
Fa mil 3-. 

IN looking out upon society at large, the patriot and 
philanthropist will be pained at the spectacle every- 
where presented, and will look with grave apprehensions 
to the future of the nation. If he goes to the marts of 
business, and watches the teeming throngs that greet 
his vision, he will see numbers of well dressed men 
entering a building of fine external appearance, but with 
screens inside the door, so arranged as to preclude the 
possibility of seeing what is going on within. If curi- 
osity prompts him to enter, he will find a gorgeously 
fitted room, on one side of which is a **bar, " and 
behind it stands a man dealing out spirituous liquors to 
the well-dressed throngs that daily and hourly gather 
within these walls. If he will take the pains to follow 
the history of these men who daily congregate at this 
"bar," he will see them one by one dropping off from 
their attendance here, but they may be found at the low 
and dismal "doggery," imbibing the vile compounds 
there concocted ; and in a short time thereafter, many 
of them may be seen reeling along the streets, with 



IIiDJUDi Devclopnioit atid Prog) ess. 2<Si 

scarcely a trait of manhood left, renderings the night 
hideous by their vile imprecations or senseless jargon ; 
or repairing to their desolate homes, they vent the ter- 
rible passions engendered in their brains by the fiery 
alcohol, upon the helpless members of that family they 
were pledged to support and defend, some of whom are 
perhaps maimed for life or killed outright. 

And now society becomes indignant at such flagrant 
violations of the public peace, and to execute justice, 
builds massive prisons and incarcerates for a time the 
degraded specimens of manhood within their walls ; or 
hangs them from the gibbet until life is extinct. The 
law being now satisfied, society goes on the even tenor 
of its ways again, feeling relieved from all further cause 
of alarm, until fresh outbreaks from the same source 
again requires the execution of vengeance. 

If our patriot and philanthropist, becoming disgusted 
and dismayed at these scenes of crime and blood, turns 
his attention to the houses of trade and barter, and 
closely watches what is there taking place, he will in 
but too many instances see the principles of honesty 
and fair dealing laid upon the altar of gain and selfish 
ambition ; and men claiming to be governed by the 
sense of right and justice desecrating their manhood by 
stooping to false representations, and all the ''tricks of 
trade," in order that they and their families may enjoy 
the luxuries of life, or shine in the halls of fashion. 

If he will follow the scene into the vigils of the 
night, he will see the trained villains coming forth from 
their hiding places to ply their vocation ; and theft, 
burglary, shoplifting and incendiarism, will greet his 
watchful eye in almost every direction. And now to 
restore order and promote the public peace and security, 
37 



282 Ihiniaii Dcvclopuioit and Progress. 

society builds greater prisons to hold these additional 
disturbers of the public peace, and thus vindicate the 
law. 

If still dissatisfied with the outlook, our patriot and 
philanthropist turns his attention to the sacred precincts 
of the family circle, he will be shocked to find this last 
resting place of all the virtues, in too many instances, 
marred and disfigured by the scoldings and frettings of 
that personage who wears the sacred name of wife and 
mother ; and this holy spot, that should be a haven of 
rest and peace to its inmates, is converted into pande- 
monium. In other instances our investigator will find 
"the lord of the manor " absent from the family circle, 
and if curiosity prompt him to seek his whereabouts, he 
will, in many instances, be found in some house of in- 
famy, making his amours to some victim of his passion, 
while the poor creature who bears his name is at home 
in solitude, wondering why the object of her hearts' best 
affections has become so indifferent to her charms. 

If our patriot and philanthropist should turn his 
attention to the workings of the government under 
which he lives, he will see its agents and administrators 
in many cases pandering to the lowest passions of 
human nature, in order that they may be elevated to 
official positions ; and when safely installed in their 
places, not being content with the emoluments of the 
office, resort to a system of stealing to secure greater 
gains. 

And if he will follow the men he has helped to place 
in the law making department of the government, he 
will find in these halls of legislation, men who at home 
claimed to be honest and upright in all things, selling 
their votes upon the most important measures, to the 



Huifiafi DcvclopDioit and Progress. 283 

highest bidders ; and the legislation of the country, is 
thus placed in the hands of the most corrupt and uncon- 
scionable villains, who have grown rich by speculating 
upon the ignorance and credulity of the people, and 
who are still plotting fresh schemes of aggrandisement 
and power. 

And if our investigator will turn his attention to the 
halls of justice, even there he sees instances of the vilest 
corruption, and lawyers who have been chosen to defend 
the legal rights of their clients, and secure the adminis- 
tration of justice, place all upon the altar of their own 
selfish interests. And even the presiding Judges too 
often forget the dignity and responsibility of their posi- 
tions, and ignoring the rights and interests of the citi- 
zens, must needs adjourn the Courts in order that they 
may stain their ermine by wallowing in the mire. That 
all these forms of degradation and corruption prevail in 
this country, every observant citizen knows. That they 
have proportionately increased as the country has ad- 
vanced in wealth, and so-called civilization, is a proposi- 
tion equally true. 

What are the causes in operation in society that are 
producing this sad picture of human depravity in this 
fair land ? Are these causes inherent in the race of 
mankind, and will the tide of corruption and profligacy 
continue to flow over the land until liberty is once more 
dethroned ? Must the grandest system of government 
the world has ever produced be blotted from existence, 
by the corruptions of its own citizens ; and the land of 
Washington be again given up to barbarism and cor- 
ruption ? 

These are questions of most momentous import, and 
should engage the attention and thought of every lover 



284 Hinnaii Development and Progress. 

of his country. If we will look back over the rise, 
progress and decline of all the great nations of antiquity, 
the conviction must force itself upon us, that history is 
repeating itself here, and that our annals are to b.e 
written as, 

" First freedom and then glory— when that fails, 
Wealth, vice, corruption, barbarism at last." 

It is undoubtedly true, that the sanae causes which 
wrought the downfall of the nations of history, are at 
work here; and unless these causes are removed or made 
inoperative, the same results must inevitably follow. 
Like causes operating upon similar conditions will always 
produce like results. What are these causes then, and 
is their removal a probable, or even possible, event ? 

If the lessons of history are of any worth they cer- 
tainly all teach us, that so long as the people of a nation 
live plain and simple in all things, and subsist upon the 
fruits and grains and vegetable products of the earth, 
and pay some regard to the physiological laws of life, 
such people have been relatively virtuous, and prosper- 
ous and happy. Many of the Grecian States were illus- 
trious examples of this fact. Sparta maintained her 
independence for five hundred years ; and her people 
were world-renowned for their rigid virtues, and their 
great strength and beauty ; and yet the Spartans sub- 
sisted on a fruit and vegetable diet exclusively. And 
so long as the Roman people lived on the grains and 
fruits of the earth, they were invincible in war and 
peace, and the declaration, "I am a Roman citizen," 
was ample protection the world over. But Rome 
became strong and rich and powerful, and soon her peo- 
ple commenced ransacking the animal kingdom for food, 
and at once the virtue and purity of her people began 



HuJiian Dcvclopmoit and Progress. 285 

to decline. From being the most abstemious and tem- 
perate people to be found in the world, they became 
the most voluptuous and gluttonous ; and now Rome 
became an easy prey to the hordes of barbarians of 
Europe, who still used a plain and simple dietary. 

I am not contending that the abolition of a diet of 
meats and artificial stimulants and the substitution of an 
exclusive fruit and vegetable one, will of itself abolish 
all crime and disease from this country. Crime and 
disease will no doubt outlive this Nation. But I think 
the proposition is indisputable, that no nation can pre- 
serve her liberties, where a large majority of her citizens 
do not bring their Hves under subjection to the recog- 
nized moral sense of mankind, without the intervention 
of legal force. In other words, where the great mass 
of the people do not Hve virtuously, without legal 
restraint, that liberty in such nation is always endangered. 

That this Nation is in that condition now, I think is a 
proposition that cannot be disproved ; and the most im- 
portant question before the American people at this 
time is, how this tendency to crime may be checked, 
and the tendency to virtuous ways substituted in its 
stead. To say that the elevation of this or that political 
party to power in the Nation, will bring about this 
result is futile in the extreme. It is equally visionary 
to expect such a result from the passage of any statu- 
tory law, or set of laws. In fact, nothing but a radical 
change in the living of the people, in conformity to the 
physiological laws, can accomplish this result, and place 
the liberties of the people upon a firm and enduring 
basis. 

The fact is indisputable, that man goes out in the 
direction of least resistance ; and if all the tendencies of 



286 Human Development and Progress. 

his organizations are urging him to the commission ot 
crime, he will almost certainly yield to the impulse and 
commit crime. To have pure impulses and pure de- 
sires, man must build up a pure organization and sup- 
ply it with pure blood. To have pure mental and mor- 
al action, there must be a pure and normial brain develop- 
ment, and the blood must be kept supplied with a 
sufficiency of energy-yielding matter to keep it up to 
its normal standard. But the use of animal flesh and 
artificial stimulants, and all innutritious food, tends to 
build up a faulty organism, and renders the blood impure, 
and is thus a violation of physiological laws. And to 
say that obedience to physiological laws will not tend to 
a virtuous life, is saying that a virtuous Hfe is not man's 
normal condition ; for this obedience will certainly 
place man in his normal relations. 

But whether living in virtue or vice, be man's nor- 
mal condition, all the records of history, and all the 
teachings of the science of life, goes to establish the tact 
that obedience to the true physiological law of life, if 
persisted in, will secure the best physical, mental and 
moral condition it is possible for each individual to at- 
tain, and that departure from these laws, will always 
lead to abnormal development and vicious tendencies. 
And to expect man to reform, with all the tendencies 
of his organization urging him on in his criminal 
course, is preposterous in the extreme. Man lives up 
to the requirements of his organization and environ- 
ment, with but little variation. His whole nature is a 
unit, and to reform the man, his whole nature, physical, 
mental and moral, must be improved and elevated. 

And the same principle holds good in relation to 
society at large. To bring about reform in society, all 



Iluuiati Development and Progress. 2S7 

classes and conditions of men must be elevated. And 
this can only be done by a thorough system of educa- 
tion for all classes, that will fit every individual for some 
sphere of usefulness. Man cannot be elevated while 
living in idleness and indolence. Neither his physical 
body, his mental faculties, or his moral nature, can grow 
and develop except by active use. Work, luork, is the 
inevitable law of nature, and every effort, of individuals 
or classes, to climb up to eminence on any other basis, 
must result in discomfiture and defeat. I know that the 
possessors of wealth and the imitators of its style, strive 
to usurp the highest places in society, and demand 
homage and fealty from all others ; but the time is near 
at hand, when pure and noble manhood and woman- 
hood, will be more highly prized than all the tinsel that 
wealth can produce. It is a higher type of manhood 
and womanhood, that is the great need of this age and 
nation. But to secure this higher type of manhood and 
womanhood, more respect must be paid to the physical, 
mental and moral worth of the individual, than to the 
ornaments worn, or the wealth he or she is able to com- 
mand. And this brings us back again to individual cul- 
ture, which must be in harmony with nature's laws, or 
it will never be v/orthy of respect. This is the first step 
toward reform. Bring about reform in the individual 
units, and place them upon a sound basis, and the work 
of reforming society will be completed at once. 
■ But the life of the individual cannot always be brought 
in harmony with the physiological laws, without the in- 
tervention of national law. For example, an individual 
or family may desire to live in accordance to physiologic- 
al law in all things, but this law requires that all persons 
shall breathe an atmosphere approximating purity ; but 



288 Hnviaii Development and Progress. 

no matter how cleanly one family in a town or city may 
live, or how well the house may be ventilated, if all the 
surroundings are filthy and dirty, the surrounding at- 
mosphere will become impregnated with impurity, and 
the cleanly family must breathe it as well as the rest. 
So a national system of hygiene is essentially necessary 
to secure complete personal obedience to physiological 
law. 

And why should not Congress establish a Bureau of 
Hygiene, and place a competent man at its head, with 
authority to instruct the people in correct systems of 
living, by issuing regular bulletins to be sent all over 
the country, and with officers to enforce the observance 
on the part of the people of all physiological laws, the 
violation of which would endanger the life or health of 
others. This would do more to establish correct sys- 
tems of living among the people, and improve the 
health and morals of the country more than the build- 
ing of any number of prisons, and the incarceration of 
the criminals in them. It is the tendencies to crime that 
need to be taken away from the people, and then there 
will be but little need of making provision for the secur- 
ing of criminals. But to take away the tendencies to 
crime, the lives of the people must be brought in har- 
mony with the true physiological laws of life. This is 
the great work that lies before the American people ! 
And if civilization is to continue to advance, and man 
be raised to a higher plane of being, this work must be 
commenced at once. 

What are the agencies that can be evoked to inaugu- 
rate a great National movement in favor of this most 
urgently needed reform? The isolated efforts of a few 



lluinaii Dm'lop))U)it and Progress. 289 

individuals can accomplish but little in a work of such 
gigantic nnagnitude. 

Then let all the agencies that are now engaged in 
the amelioration of the condition of man, take hold of 
this subject and work for the accomplishment of this 
grand object. But especially should the church engage 
in this work, if it expects to maintain its hold upon the 
consciences of the people. The mind of man is becom- 
ing slow in recognizing principles that show no tangible 
results. It is results the people want to see, and the 
church must be able to show to the world, that union 
with it means conformity of the life to all God's laws, 
as well as belief in the special principles of faith recog- 
nized by each church organization. Certainly there is 
no other agency that can wield so powerful an influ- 
ence in bringing the minds of the people to see the im- 
portance of their living in conformity to the physiolog- 
ical laws, as the united action of the church through all 
its various channels of imparting information. The 
clergy alone, in their almost constant intercourse with 
their people, and the strong hold they have upon the 
minds and hearts of their parishioners, if it was exerted 
in showing up to their membership the importance of 
living true to the physiological laws, and especially of 
parents bringing up their children in conformity to them, 
a great revolution would soon be effected in the living 
of the people, that would tell favorably upon the health 
and morals of the country. 

And especially should the Medical Profession take 
the lead in teaching this new Gospel of Reform to the 
people. Excepting the minister, there is no one who 
enters into such intimate relations to the family circle 
as the physician. In all the ''ills that human flesh is 
88 



290 I {iinuDi Development and /''jvj^ress. 

heir to," his counsel and advice are sought; and in all 
things relating to the Hygiene of the household, the 
family physician is the oracle to be consulted. What 
grand opportunities are here for instilling into the minds 
of the people, the importance of bringing their whole 
lives in conformity to the physiological laws ; in order 
that all these physical ills may be avoided, and man be en- 
abled to fill the full measure of his usefulness, and thus 
live out all his days in comfort and happiness. Here is 
the great field of labor for the Medical Profession — a field 
that should engage its ablest minds and purest hearts. 
Is it qualified to enter upon this noble work — this God- 
like mission ? 

If we will examine into the lives of those nvho bear 
the sacred name of physician, and who daily practice 
in the profession, we will find too many going to the 
bedside of the sick and afflicted with their breaths made 
nauseous with the smell of tobacco, and all their mental 
faculties clouded and stupified with the narcotic poison. 
In other cases, we will see men with the bloated face, 
the trembling hand, and the incoherent mutterings of 
the drunkard, dealing out the most powerful agents to 
the sick and the afflicted, thus bringing infamy and re- 
proach upon their calling. And in too man}' instances, 
the practitioner is more solicitous to continue his visits 
to the sick and secure his fees, than he is to bring about 
amelioration of the physical ills he has been called 
upon to mitigate and remove ; and in his selfish greed 
of gain, he fails to impart light and knowledge to the 
people on those subjects of which he is the supposed 
only recipient. 

But I know this dark picture has a silver lining ; that 
some o( the brightest and noblest men the world has 



Ihiinaji Dnu'lopDuiit and Progress. 291 

ever produced, have toiled and lal)ored in this profes- 
sion. I know that to-da}', some of the greatest minds 
and purest hearts in the country, may be found at the 
bedside of the sick and afflicted in all conditions of so- 
ciety ; and like ministering angels, doing all in their 
power for the relief of their suffering. I know there are 
many in the profession, ready at all times to enter the 
dens of pollution and filth, and to administer help to the 
afflicted and dying — many at the risk of their own lives, 
are ready to enter the very hot-beds of contagion and 
loathsomeness, in order that they may be able to clear 
away the contagion and save the lives of their fellow- 
creatures. I know there are others, who have given 
the best years of their lives to the study of the causes 
that are producing disease and suffering, and have freely 
given to the world the results of their observations in 
valuable rules for the guidance of mankind. These are 
the men who have given character and distinction to 
the profession, and have placed the physician so near 
and dear to the hearts of the people. 

J^ut let me ask you, my professional brethren, are we 
living up to the full requirements of our professional 
duty? Are we not giving too much of our time and at- 
tention to the therapeutics of our profession, and too 
much neglecting the study of the causes and prevention 
of disease ? Why is it, that most of the teaching in 
our medical colleges is directed to the study and treat- 
ment of disease, and but a moiety given to that g7'eat 
question, how can man live so as to escape disease. 
Why should not the medical student be prepared, 
while at college, for the noblest and most essential 
part of his life-work — that of educating the people on 
the laws of life, and how they shall live to escape disease? 



292 Hitmaji Dcvelop7nent and Progress. 

There is no question but that the coming "Doctor" 
must be better versed in the science of true Hving, than 
is the average practitioner of to-day. And equally true 
is it, that as mankind advances in civilization and refine- 
ment, that medical preparations must give place to na- 
ture's remedies — to air, light, food, water, rest, sleep, 
etc. These are the agents the physician who is to 
practice in the years to come, must thoroughly compre- 
hend and understand, and must be qualified to instruct 
the people of the physiological laws that should guide 
in their use. Perhaps no better means can be devised 
to bring about this change, than for heads of families to 
employ the physician by the year, at a regular stipulat- 
ed salary, and this will make it the interest of the phy- 
sician to instruct the family in all the laws of health 
and life. 

Such a system, universally adopted and judiciously 
carried out, would no doubt result in great improvement 
in the health and living of the people. And how im- 
portant it is, that the public schools of the country 
should take a leading part in shaping and moulding the 
lives of the children over whom they have control, upon 
the firm and sure foundations of physiological law. 
These institutions unquestionably wield a powerful in- 
fluence upon the Hves of children during the important 
period in which their characters are forming. To say 
the influence of these institutions is now directed to the 
enforcement of the physiological laws, would certainly 
be doing violence to the fact. Very many of those 
engaged in the sacred mission of teaching, and whose 
lives leave its imperishable impress upon the children 
under their charge, show an utter disregard of the phys- 
iological laws in their own dress and manner of living. 



Human DcvclopJiicnt and Progress. 293 

I am aware that society requires obedience to the de- 
mands of fashion in the lady teacher, as well as from 
all others. But the teacher \\A\o violates the physiolog- 
ical laws in her owni person, is certainly unqualified to 
enforce the observance of these laws upon those placed 
under her charge. Hence the public schools, instead 
of training the young immortal in the way it should go, 
is expending its influence in mental culture alone. 

The correction of this evil must be left to the normal 
school, where the teachers are perfected in their calling, 
and which must demand of all who come to receive its 
instruction, unconditional obedience to the physiolog- 
ical laws. 

School education should undoubtedly aim to assist in 
bringing about the normal development of all man's 
powers, in order that he may reach the full measure of 
his usefulness. It is true, the school is only one agency 
for the accomplishment of this grand object, and it is 
limited in its effects. But whatever influence it does 
have, should be exerted in the direction of the grand 
object of all proper training, the normal development 
of man. The school should certainly give no training 
that will produce an abnormal development. The child 
should learn nothing there that must be unlearned in 
after years ; or that will tend to unfit the young candi- 
date for citizenship, from filling his true position in 
society, when he reaches the age of majority. But if 
all school training is directed in a single channel, and to 
a single purpose, that is, the unfolding of the mental 
powers, the development thus secured must be abnor- 
mal ; and very frequently the physical organism is seri- 
ously injured in order to secure the mental development. 
The organism of the child can only produce a definite 



294 Human Dcvelopvicnt and Progress. 

amount of nervous force, and this is consumed in the 
growth of the mental faculties alone, the physical or- 
ganism and the moral faculties must suffer from the 
deprivation of the necessary vital force to secure their 
development This is in violation of the true physiolog- 
ical laws, which requires that the development of the 
whole nature shall go on symmetrically. 

This undue development of the mental powers, at the 
expense of the physical and moral, is producing its 
bitter fruits all over this beautiful country. Without a 
sound and vigorous body, but little can be accomplished 
by any one ; and without the moral faculties are placed 
in the ascendency in the life, the little that is accom- 
plished, is more apt to be evil than good. The moral 
faculties should control the life ; vv^hich they never can 
do unless they are developed by cultivation and use. 

Then the public school training should be brought 
into harmony with the physiological laws, and as far as 
possible it should be directed to the symmetrical devel- 
opment of the whole nature of the child. Another im- 
portant agency, in imparting correct ideas of the phys- 
iological laws and the importance of their observance, 
is the public press of the country. This has become a 
mighty power in the land ; and too often its influence is 
used for the promulgation of evil rather than good. A 
majority of the papers of the Nation are devoted almost 
exclusively to party politics, and resort to every means 
to secure the predominance of their party measures in 
the politics of the country. And in order to become 
self-sustaining, these papers court the patronage of all 
sorts of advertising ; and the nostrum-monger figures 
most conspicuously in their pages. The patent medi- 
cine men and women, claim a most commanding posi- 



/In man Dtvclopuii-nt a/id Pivgnss. 295 

tion in a large per centage of the newspapers and period- 
icals of the country, and pay enormous sums to their 
proprietors for the privilege of the space they occupy. 
In many of the daily and weekly papers, one-half or 
more of their columns are occupied with these flaming 
advertisements ; and to impress the claims of their nos- 
trums upon the public, an emaciated human figure is 
presented as representing the condition of the individual 
before taking the medicine, and a sleek and comely 
face, as the result of the use of the nostrum. 

These papers find their way into almost every house- 
hold in the land ; and in many instances form the entire 
stock of reading matter for the family circle. That the 
sum total of these advertisements are false, and their 
influence in the family circle most pernicious, is known 
to every man who is capable of conducting a paper. 
And yet the publishers of these papers, seek the patron- 
age of such advertisers for the pecuniary gain they 
bring. Hence the influence of the press, upon that 
large class who depend upon the newspaper for its entire 
reading matter, is prostituted to the dissemination of 
worthless and pernicious trash, and it becomes a curse 
to society, rather than a blessing. Why can we not 
have in this country cheap periodicals, filled entirely 
with valuable reading matter, and devoted to the eleva- 
tion of mankind, instead of becoming the disseminator 
of vicious principles and ideas. In England such papers 
have been started and have proved eminently successful. 
Where is the aspiring genius in this country, who is 
willing to embark in such an enterprise, and devote the 
entire space of his paper to the dissemination of correct 
ideas and systems of living ? That such papers would 
be eagerly sought after and read by thousands of the 



296 ' Jfumaii Development and Pi ogress. 

very class of society who need light in this direction, is 
certain. And such ventures, if properly conducted, 
would unquestionably succeed. Then would the public 
pressor the country wield an influence for good, instead 
of evil, and the mass of the people be greatly benefited 
by the change. 

But the most powerful of all the agencies for the dis- 
semination oi correct ideas of living, will ever be the 
family circle. Here, are set in motion the secret springs 
that run all the machinery of life. This is the great 
training school of mankind, and the parents are the 
teachers. 

But here again, the imperfections of the teachers will 
necessarily give rise to imperfect training in the taught, 
and the condition of the family will ever be an index of 
the condition of society. And no advancement can be 
expected in society at large, Avithout being preceded by 
the elevation of the family. 

This improvement must necessarily be a proce.ss of 
slow growth ; but every effort should be made to bring 
it about. To accomplish any good, the effort put forth 
must be based upon true scientific principles. In the 
first place, it is necessary to find out in what direction 
reform is most needed ; for civilization has evidently 
been advancing in some directions. The retrograde 
movement in civilization — or at least the direction in 
which it has not advanced — is in the indirect moral rela- 
tions that exist between man and man, involving the 
fact of property. Mr. J. N. Larned, in an article in 
Popular Science Monthly, on Civilization and Morals, 
says : 

"The truth, then, seems to be, that the civilizing 
process in society has, thus far, had two quite contrary 



nuimm Dci'clopuuut and Pjvgnss. 297 

moral effects : owq, to cultivate and quicken in men the 
intelligence which apprehends their relations to one 
another, and which perceives a right line in all the con- 
duct that is incident to those relations; the other, to 
complicate and obscure one prominent group of such 
relations, and to make the apprehension of them more 
difficult. If the former effect has not yet overcome the 
latter, in that sphere of conduct where the conflict be- 
tween them is greatest, there is nothing to wonder at in 
the fact. 

" It is quite according to the nature of our moral cog- 
nitions, that men should sooner learn not to steal than 
not to cheat ; because stealing is an assault direct upon 
that fact of possession which we have seen to be at the 
bottom of the idea of a right of property ; whereas, 
cheating takes most of its suggestions from the absence 
of that fact. It is certain that civilization has dimin- 
ished downright robbery, depradation, theft, and not 
so much by its police, nor by the force of its penal 
laws, as by cultivating the notion of right conduct 
which condemns them. If it has not yet curtailed the 
devices of fraud, and if men make dishonest use of the 
knowledge and the skill that they have gained in every 
art, even more, perhaps, than their fathers used the 
scantier methods of fraud which they knew, the reason 
seems to be explained, and I can find nothing in the 
fact to argue against a final ripening of moral fruits in 
this region of human conduct, as well as in the rest. 

* * But there is something involved in morals beyond 
the knowledge of right and wrong ; some kind of a 
force, or some kind of a law of feeling in man, which 
constrains him toward the right line of conduct when he 
has discerned it. That it only operates in coincidence 

39 



298 fluiuaii Development and Progress. 

with his perception of the Hne of right — that men, in 
other words, have no conscience with respect to wrong- 
ful deeds which they have not yet recognized as wrong- 
ful — appears to be shown by all the facts of hunaan his- 
tory. 

"This conscience, then, must be something that is 
only made active by the development of a moral intel- 
hgence which reveals to men the line of right in one 
particular of conduct after another. Need we try to 
account for it any otherwise than by calling it a law of 
feelmg, analagous in kind to that law of motion 
which operates to constrain the obedience of matter to 
right lines of motion ? We know that, when we throw 
a stone into the air, it would move forever in the 
straight line of its projection, if other forces, more po- 
tent than the projecting one, did not interfere to over- 
come the proper law of its motion. If, now, we might 
imagine a state of consciousness in this clod of matter, 
by virtue of which it could /rr/ the resistance in itself to 
the perturbing forces that are swerving it from the line 
of rectitude, we should have the analogue of what I con- 
ceive to be the conscience of the human being ; a per- 
sistent law of feeling, that is in man, which resists devi- 
ations from the right hnes of conduct whenever he has 
become conscious of them. Such an implanted law of 
moral feeling in human nature is no more difficult of 
conception, nor any less so, than the rectilinear law of 
material motions." Here is a plain statement of the 
line of effort that is to bring about the true elevation of 
mankind. This implanted law of moral feeling that ex- 
ists in all men, must be cultivated and developed until 
it is strong enough to control the actions of all men. 
To do this successfully, the consciences of all men must 



fJiiDiau DcvcIopDuiit ajid Progress. 299 

be enlightened in relation to all the principles of moral 
rectitude ; and at the same time, correct systems of liv- 
ing must be adopted in all directions, in order that the 
lower faculties may not gain the ascendency in this life. 
It is very certain that unless men see the right they can- 
not do the right ; and if they do recognize the right, 
and there is some perturbing force strong enough to 
carry the will, they will be led from the path of recti- 
tude. 

For this reason it is necessary for parents to learn 
the principles of moral rectitude themselves, in order 
that they may teach them effectually to their children. 
But if parents only teach the principles of moral recti- 
tude to their children, but so direct their manner of 
living as to feed the passions and contaminate the blood, 
the evil tendencies they will have engendered will most 
likely be strong enough to over-ride the enlightened 
conscience, and run out into evil actions. The strong- 
est force operating upon the will, will gain the victory. 
" The^consciousness of the individual may feel the re- 
sistance in itself to the perturbing forces that are swerv- 
ing it from the line of rectitude; " but if the perturb- 
ing forces are strong enough to carry the will, the 
deviation from the line of rectitude will be effected. 

Then, dear parents, let me again urge you to learn 
the true physiological laws of life, and to practice them 
in all your family relations, in order that you and your 
children may be enabled to practice the principles of 
moral rectitude as your minds are expanded to receive 
them. Remem.ber you are to be leaders in all efforts to 
bring about the highest development of man. Home, 
sweet home, must be made the nurturing school of all 
the virtues and graces that adorn and magnify human 



300 Human Development and Progress. 

character, and parents must be the teachers of these 
schools. Prepare yourselves for this noble work, by 
studying all the laws and forces that operate upon 
human character and human life. 

Long after you have gone down to your graves, your 
influence and your examples will be telling, for weal or 
woe, upon the lives of the immortal beings placed in 
your care and keeping. For your eternal good, how 
important it is that this influence and example be 
directed so as to aid in the higher development of man, 
and hasten the good time coming when peace and joy 
and good will to men will cover the whole earth as the 
waters cover the sea. 



CHAPTER XVIII 



Changes in the Orjjanism in Old Age— All the Powers of Life Be- 
come More Sluggish — Three Periods in Life — The Knowledge of 
Physiological Law Imperfect — The Reserve Force in the Hu- 
man Constitution — This Should be Used for Useful Purposes — 
Changes in the Living of the Individual Should Conform to the 
Changes in the Organism — The Mental and Moral Powers Should 
be Kept Moderately Active — Obedience to Physiological Law 
the Only Way to Reach a Full and Complete Life — William Cul- 
len Bryant — Peter Cooper. 

NOW, having endeavored to trace the operations of 
the physiological laws upon the human organism, 
from the period of infancy to the time when all the 
faculties and powers of life begin to wane, the question 
may be raised, does this period require any special 
change •to be made in the living of the individual ? 

As age advances, and man begins to feel the weight of 
years to press heavily upon him, an examination into 
the condition of his organism will show a very consider- 
able change. All the functions of the body move off 
more slowly than in the earlier years of his life. The 
contraction of the heart walls are more deliberate, the 
blood courses more sluggishly along the hardened walls 
of the arteries, and less changes are brought about in 
the blood while it slowly passes through the great sys- 
tem of capillary blood tubes ; and the veins consequently 
deliver it more slowly back to the upper chamber of 



302 Human Devclopvieut and Proo^ress. 

the right heart, or right auricle, and by the contraction 
of its walls, the blood is forced down into the chamber 
below, or right ventricle, the contraction of which 
pushes it on again to the lungs, where it gives up 
the impurities it has received in its transit through the 
capillaries, and receives a fresh supply of oxygen to 
secure the continued action of the organism. And now 
along with this slowness of the movements of the blood, 
and its imperfect changes, comes a correspondingly less 
rapid and less perfect re-building of the tissues, and a 
tendency to the deposition of fat in all the tissues of 
the organism. 

At just what age these various changes take place in 
the human organism, may depend upon several different 
circumstances, as the inherited perfection or imperfec- 
tion of the organism, the previous course of life, 
whether in accordance to the physiological laws or in 
constant violation of them. 

''The duration of time intended by nature to extend 
between the birth of the individual and his natural eu- 
thanasia, is undetermined except in an approximate 
degree. From the first, the steady, stealthy attraction 
of the earth is ever telling upon the Hving body. Some 
force liberated from the body during life enables it, by 
self-controlled resistance, to overcome its own weight. 
For a given part of its cycle, the force produced is so 
efficient that the body grows as well as moves by its 
agency against weight ; but this special stage is limited 
to an extreme, say of thirty years. There is then 
another period, limited, probably to thirty years, during 
which the living structure in its full development main- 
tains its resistance to its weight. Finally there comes a 
time when this resistance begins to fail, so that the 



lliiiiuin Dci'ilopnuiit and rrogirss. 



i^lS 



earth, which now for a moment loses her grasp, com- 
mences and continues to prevail, and after a struggle, 
extended from twenty to thirty years, conquers, bring- 
ing the exhausted organism, which has daily approached 
nearer and nearer to her dead self, into her dead 
bosom. ""^ 

Such is the natural course of life in an organism un- 
tainted with any inherited weakness, and where there 
has been a proper observance of all the physiological 
laws of life. That the time of vigorous action in the 
system may be greatly extended, and an untold amount 
of physical suffering and moral pollution be avoided by 
this constant observance of the physiological laws, there 
can be no question. 

But the true physiological laws of life are yet so 
imperfectly understood by even the wisest of men, and 
so little attention is paid to such as are known, by the 
great body of the people, that centuries must elapse 
before this perfection can be reached. In fact, many 
persons deny the existence of all physiological law, and 
claim that the development of man is not regulated by 
any fixed laws ; and whether that development be good 
or bad, is entirely a matter of chance — that the man 
who drinks spirituous liquors and uses tobacco, and 
abuses his system in various ways, has as good health, 
and lives as long and as happily, as the person who 
brings his life under the most rigid discipline. 

This disbelief in the universal reign of law by the 
great mass of the people, has been a great drawback to 
the dissemination of correct ideas of human life, and 
has brought disrepute upon the teachings of the few 



=:=Dr. B. W. Richardson— Diseases of Modern Life. 



304 Human Dcvclopmoit and Progress. 

scientists who have spent years in the investigation of 
this subject. Nevertheless, these investigations have 
demonstrated the fact, that the development of man is 
perfectly and completely the outgrowth of physiological 
law, and that normal development may always be 
secured by supplying all the conditions these investiga- 
tions have found to be essential to normal development. 
But the study of these laws is yet in its infancy, and it 
may be thousands of years before all the laws that con- 
trol the destiny of man will be perfectly known and 
comprehended. But every advance in the study of 
these laws will lead to a progressively higher and purer 
development of man. There is no question of the fact 
that obedience to the true physiological laws by suc- 
ceeding generations will lead to continuously purer and 
higher states of being. 

"Life is hope, is struggle upward and onward. 
Healthy and robust life, can set no final goal to its en- 
deavors and hopes, but carries deep in its bosom the 
promise of quite an infinity of inheritance — dim and 
unconscious perhaps, yet latently warm and unquestion- 
ing. But only to the man who lives industriously, 
moderately, honestly and truthfully does God vouchsafe 
higher disclosures." 

The highest possible development of man, can only 
come through obedience to the laws God has instituted 
to bring about this higher development. No shorter or 
better way can ever be reached by living in rebellion to 
these laws ; as all infractions of them must sink man 
lower and lower in the scale of conscious intelligences. 
Then, all assertions that the man who lives in constant 
violations of the physiological laws, by the indulgence 
of the lower appetites, enjoys as much of life as he who 



lliiiiiaii Dcvclopviott and Progicss. 



.Soq 



obeys them, is certainly not supported by Aicts, nor has 
such a Hfe anything to recommend it. 

There is in the human constitution a reserve force, 
that is not needed in the regular routine of daily life, 
and is only brought into action where extraordinary 
draughts are made upon the life forces. Were it not 
for this reserve force any amount of extra exertion, 
either of mind or body, or the least failure of the di- 
gestive organs to furnish the system its regular amount 
of nutrition, would soon cause death, as the constant 
waste that is required to support the even tenor of life 
having been exceeded, the reparative process could not 
supply the excess of waste ; and consequently the pow- 
ers of life would soon be exhausted, and the machinery 
of life would stop for want of the necessary fuel to run 
it. The amount of this reserve force varies greatly in 
different individuals, and in the same person at different 
times, owing to the varying conditions of the system. 
But this reserve force may be used for very different 
purposes in the economy of life. 

Let us suppose a man in good health, and with a 
goodly stock of reserve force, meets with an injury and 
gets his hand crushed in some machinery ; and not feel- 
ing disposed to employ a surgeon, he leaves the process 
of repair to the natural powers of the system. Under 
the guidance of the nervous system, a portion of the 
reserve force is now used to repair the injury that has 
been inflicted upon the organism. A line of demark- 
ation is drawn between the sound and the injured parts 
and the work of healing takes place along this Hne ; 
while in the injured part, the life forces being with- 
drawn, decomposition soon takes place and it sloughs 
off, leaving a stump which soon heals over. Now here 
40 



3o6 Unman Dcvclopnioit and Progress. 

the injury not being very extensive, and happening in 
a good constitution, the Hfe forces were amply sufficient 
to carry on the regular processes of life, and repair the 
injury inflicted upon the organism. But suppose the 
injury had been much greater, and instead of a hand, 
both lower limbs had been crushed. Now all the re- 
serve force, not being sufficient to repair the injury, a 
portion of the force necessary for the regular operations 
of life must be withdrawn from their destined purpose, 
and life itself begins to wane — all the life-force is soon 
exhausted and death ends the conflict. 

Let us now trace the same processes of life in another 
class of injuries. Suppose our strong constitutioned 
man, with large reserve force, instead of getting his hand 
crushed, com.mences the violation of physiological laws 
by the use of spirituous liquors. Here a portion of the 
reserve force must be used in ridding the system of the 
alcoholic liquor, which cannot be utilized in repairing 
the tissues of the body ; and so long as the reserve 
force is kept above the amount required for the pur- 
pose of getting rid of the intruding elements, and all 
other extraordinary purposes that may happen to it, 
life will not be shortened, unless the intruding element 
itself causes actual destruction of some part of the or- 
ganism, when it may shorten life that way. But admit- 
ting for the present, that the alcoholic liquor produces 
no injury to the tissues of the body, and the amount 
used does not exceed the power of the reserve force to 
cast out, then life will not be shortened, and such a 
person may live out all his days, unless there should be 
some extraordinary call upon the reserve force from 
some other source. But what a prostitution of the Hfe 
forces, to consume them in the removal from the system 



llu))ia)i Drjclop})ient a)id Progress. 307 

of an intruding agent that has answered no higher pur- 
pose than the gratification of a morbid appetite, which 
has been created by a vicious system of hving. All 
excess of reserve force, should be used in the increased 
development of the mental and moral powers, or in in- 
creased physical labor, directed to some useful purpose. 
By this means, the powers of the system will be con- 
stantly enlarging and improving, and such a life be in 
harmony with the physiological laws, and will be beau- 
tiful and glorious to its close. 

But let a man use tobacco, and spirituous liquors, and 
imperfect foods, and all the vital force he can raise is 
required to carry on the functions essential to mere living, 
and the removal of the morbid agents from the system ; 
there can be no force left to use for any mental or moral 
activity, or even for a great amount of physical labor ; 
although such a man may reach extreme old age, he has 
accomplished nothing worth living for, and has been a 
mere cumberer of the earth. " It is not all of life to 
live," but it is the utilizing of the life forces, to useful 
and noble purposes, that constitutes a true life. Thirty 
years of a life well spent, is worth a century expended 
in the mere gratification of the selfish desires and appe- 
tites. And as no person can develop more than a max- 
imum of force, no matter how great his constitutional 
vigor, or how true he lives to nature's laws, it is cer- 
tainly the duty, and should be the pleasure of every 
one to reach and to preserve this maximum of force, 
and use it for true and noble purposes. This maximum 
of force can only be reached, by living in obedience to 
the physiological laws, and this alone will render old age 
bright and glorious. 

But however the individual may live, the time will 



3o8 Ilimian Developmc7it and Progress. 

come when he will feel the effect of age ; and now the 
question arises what, if any, are the changes he should 
make in the mode of living ? This question may easily 
be answered, by considering the changes that have 
taken place in the organism. As all the vital processes 
of life go on more slowly than in the earlier years of 
existence, so the active duties of life shouW be gradu- 
ally reduced, to suit the changed conditions. And as 
all the activities of life are gradually toned down to the 
changed condition of the organism, so should the quan- 
tity and quality of the food be lowered, as the destruc- 
tive metamorphosis going on in the system is lessened. 
And right here, thousands of old men especially com- 
mit fatal blunders, and continue the excessive eating of 
strong foods long after so much of such foods can be 
used in the regular processes of life. 

And now let us trace the result of such indiscretion 
upon the organism. In the chapter on foods, it was 
stated, that all substances used as foods that could not 
be utilized in the building up of the tissues, and in the 
production of force, must be cast out of the system un- 
used, and that to so cast it out, required the expenditure 
of vital force. Now in elderly persons, with all func- 
tional activity impaired by age, this excessive use of 
foods that the system does not now require, imposes an 
excess of labor upon the eliminating organs that they 
are not qualified to perform. And if the excess of 
food belong to the albuminous class, as is usual at this 
time of life, the greater part of the unconsumed food 
must be thrown out of the system by the kidneys ; and 
this excessive action of these organs almost invariably 
injures them and destroys their ability to perform the 
labor imposed upon them. Hence it is very seldom 



Hummi Dcvclopnioit cvui Progress. 309 

that men who have been high Hvers, reach the age of 
seventy years without suffering in this way, and many 
are prematurely carried off from this cause. In a prac- 
tice of thirty years I have known numerous cases of 
this kind, and have found but few men who were wilhng 
to give up their excessive indulgences, even when told 
of the consequences that must follow, so completely 
were they under the control of their appetites. There 
is no tyrant more exacting than a morbid appetite, 
when allowed to gain the ascendency over the life of 
the individual. 

Then when entering upon the third cycle of exist- 
ence, as the business and cares of life are gradually 
laid aside, let all rich nitrogenized foods be dispensed 
with, and a plain and simple dietary of fruits and fari- 
nacea be substituted in its stead, and the life thus brought 
in harmony with the physiological laws. In no other 
way can old age be reached in comfort and health, and 
life go out in an easy and natural death. 

But a great many persons who have lived active lives, 
as they approach the border line of old age, conclude 
to give up all business cares entirely, and propose to 
spend the remainder of their days perfectly objectless. 
This is a great and fatal mistake, and so often produces 
a state of restlessness and disappointment that is worse 
than continuing in active business ; and hundreds of 
such old persons have concluded it would have been 
better to have continued to their regular avocations. 
But a little reflection on the workings of the physiolog- 
ical lav/s, would convince all such persons, that the 
only way to keep the system in a working and healthy 
condition, is to work it only within its power to repair 
the waste occasioned by the work. The muscles. 



3 I o IIiiDian Dcvelopjne?it and Progress. 

nerves and brain, are able to perforin their proper func- 
tions only when comparatively new ; and if allowed to 
remain too long unused, physical changes take place in 
them, and render them either entirely useless, or makes 
their use defective and painful. So, as age advances, 
business occupations should not be abandoned entirely, 
but should be modified to suit the changed conditions 
of the physical organism. By this means, a state of 
comparative ease and comfort and usefulness may be 
maintained, to even the farthest verge of life. 

But especially should the mental and moral powers 
be continued in reasonably active service, as the ability 
to perform physical labor is giving way. The thought 
and experience of three-score years, should have stored 
the mind with valuable and useful knowledge, and this 
should now be dispensed for the benefit of those 
younger in years. There is certainly no more pitiable 
object, than an old man or woman, who have spent their 
three-score years in the gratification of the selfish 
desires or appetites, or in the accumulation of wealth, 
to be hoarded for selfish purposes ; altogether neglecting 
the higher objects ol life ; the full and complete devel- 
opment of the whole being, in harmony with nature's 
laws ; and now, when all these objects of pursuit fail to 
give satisfaction, and must be laid aside, the remaining 
years of such persons must indeed be a complete blank. 

But what more grand and glorious, than an old gen- 
tleman or lady with a mind well stored with knowledge, 
that long years of thought and experience has crystal- 
ized into a fund of inexhaustible information, which is 
ever ready to be dispensed in pleasant conversation to 
all who chance to come into their presence. The com- 
pan)- of such persons is sought by the young, the mid- 



fliijiiaii J^i'vclopuioit and /)(>^i;rrss. ;ii 

die-aged and the old; and a few hours occupied in 
hstening to their instructive conversation, leave pleasant 
recollections in the mind as hours well and profitably 
spent. 

Our Nation affords some beautiful examples of old 
persons, thus keeping their mental powers bright and 
vigorous to extreme old age, by continuing to exer- 
cise them in dispensing lessons of wisdom to the people. 

William Cullen Bryant was an active brain worker up 
to eighty-four years of age, when by indiscreetly expos- 
ing his bare head to the rays of a very hot sun, while 
delivering an address upon the occasion of unveiling a 
statue to Massini, the Italian patriot, in New York, 
which brought on an attack of apoplexy that ended 
his useful career. This exposure was unquestionably 
the most potent cause of his death ; and but for this, 
he might have lived many years longer, as his general 
health and vigor seemed almost unimpaired. But up to 
this time his whole life was devoted to the elevation of 
his fellow man, and he went to his last resting place, 
loved and revered by the whole American people. 

In the spring of 187 1, in a letter to a friend, Mr. 
Bryant attributed the wonderful preservation of all his 
powers of usefulness, to his plain and simple mode of 
living, and the continued active use of his physical sys- 
tem and mental faculties. In this letter he says : 

** I have reached a pretty advanced period of life 
without the usual infirmities of old age, and with my 
strength, activity and bodily faculties generally in pretty 
good preservation. I rise early, at this time of the year 
about half-past five ; in summer half an hour or even an 
hour earlier. Immediately, with very little incumbrance 
of clothing, I begin a series of exercises, for the most 



3 1 2 fhtuian Development and Progress. 

part designed to expand the chest, and at the same 
time call into action all the muscles and articulations of 
the body. These are performed with dumb-bells, the 
very lightest, covered with flannel, with a pole, a hori- 
zontal bar and a Hght chair swung around my head. 
After a full hour, and sometimes more, passed in this 
manner, I bathe from head to foot. After my bath, if 
my breakfast is not ready, I sit down to my studies, till 
I am called. 

** My breakfast is a simple one — hominy and milk, or 
in place of hominy, brown bread, or oatmeal, or wheat- 
en grits, and in season, baked sweet apples. Buckwheat 
cakes I do not decline, nor any other article of vegeta- 
ble food, but animal food I never take at breakfa.st. 
Tea and coffee I never touch at any time. Sometimes I 
take a cup of chocolate, which has no narcotic effect, 
and agrees with me very well. At breakfast I often 
take fruit, either in its natural state or freshly stewed. 

" After breakfast, I occupy myself for awhile with 
my studies, and then I walk down to the office of the 
Evening Post, nearly three miles distant, and after about 
three hours return, always zvalking, whatever be the 
weather or the state of the streets. When in the coun- 
try, I am engaged in my literary tasks till a feeling of 
weariness drives me out into the open air, and I go upon 
my farm or into the garden and prune the fruit trees or 
perform some other work about them which they need, 
and then go back to my books. I do not often drive 
out, preferring to walk. 

'' In the country I dine early, and it is only at that 
meal that I take either meat or fish, and of these but a 
moderate quantity, making my dinner mostly of veget- 
ables. At the meal which is called tea, I take only a 



Human Dci'Liopnwnt and Progress. 



.•)».-> 



little bread and butter, with fruit if it be on the table. 
In town when I dine later, I make but two meals a day. 
Fruit makes a considerable part of my diet, and I eat 
it at almost any hour of the day without inconvenience. 
My drink is water, yet I sometimes, though rarely, take 
a glass of wine. I am a natural temperance man, find- 
ing myself rather confused than exhilerated by wine. I 
never meddle with tobacco, except to quarrel with its use. 

' ' That I may rise early, I of course go to bed early ; in 
town as early as ten ; in the country somewhat earlier." 

I have been thus particular in giving the habits of Mr. 
Bryant, as detailed by his own pen, on account of their 
intrinsic value. Certainly American History affords no 
brighter example of long and persistent obedience to 
the physiological laws, and the glorious results which 
always follow from such obedience ; his whole life being 
one of exceptionable purity and excellence. What a 
noble example he has left for his countrymen to follow ? 

And the venerable Peter Cooper is another example 
of a vigorous and active life extended out into ripe old 
age ; and now, while on the extreme verge of the third 
cycle of his existence — being now eighty-nine years of 
age — all the powers of his body and mind are wonder- 
fully preserved and active. Having accumulated a large 
fortune in his earlier years, he spends the closing cycle 
of his life, in devising means for its expenditure in 
works of beneficence and usefulness, and "Cooper 
Institute" will stand as a fitting monument of a life well 
spent. And here too, this venerable patriot attributes 
the great preservation of all his powers, to the plain- 
ness and simplicity of his life, and his obedience to the 
physiological laws, as far as he was enabled to know 
them. 
41 



314 Hmnaii Development and Progress. 

This glorious ending of a long and useful life, can 
only be reached by living in obedience to the physiolog- 
ical laws designed for man's guidance while passing 
through his earthly pilgrimage. The pain and suffering 
and mortal anguish, that follow the violations of these 
laws, were all kindly ordered to win man back to the 
straight and narrow way that leads unerringly to a pure 
and beautiful life in this world, and points with the fin- 
ger of hope, to a glorious and immortal existence in the 
world to come. Certainly the science of life points to an 
immortal existence, as unerringly as does Revelation. 
Science has unquestionably shown to us, that force as 
well as matter is indestructible. It may change its 
form, but it must always exist. And surely the forces 
that are pent up in the "human form divine," will not 
be obliterated, when life leaves the outer casket through 
which the force is now manifested. 

How important, then, that we all obey the laws or- 
dained for man's development, so that the forces mani- 
fested by us while living in this state of existence, ma}- 
be fitted to enter into higher and hoher forms in a future 
state. This obedience to physiological ' law, is the only 
means by which man can reach the full measure of his 
possibilities, and rise to the dignity of true manhood. 
A Hfe of pain, and suffering, and anguish, can never be 
a full and complete life. All the reserve force must 
needs be used up in the pain and suffering, and there 
can be none to expend in works of beneficence and use- 
fulness. Pain and suffering, and the exercise of the 
passions, are always costly expenditures of the life forces, 
and every feeling of discomfort should lead man away 
from the causes that produced it, to the true laws of life 
and health. 



Hiofian Dcvclopj)ic}it mid Progress. 3 1 5 

Nor does man ever get too old to give heed to the 
warning voice of pain and anguish, and abandon the 
violations of physiological laws, of which the pain and 
anguish are the evidences, and return to obedience 
where only peace and comfort can be found. Surely so 
many years of experience and suffering should have 
convinced you, my elderly brother, that the road of dis- 
obedience is a hard road to travel, and that it leads but 
to misery and anguish in the end. Come back, I en- 
treat you, to the straight and narrow way that leads to 
comfort and peace in this life, and fills the soul with 
bright visions of a glorious and unending future. So 
long as you are permitted to- live upon earth, it is your 
privilege to be continually approaching the ideal of 
moral purity, and which you have so long desired to 
reach. And you must be either reaching upward to- 
ward the fountain of all truth and righteousness, or you 
must be falling backward toward complete mental dark- 
ness and despair. Strive to make your old age glorious 
by throwing scintillations of light all along your path- 
ways ; and every ray of truth you pour into the heart 
of some erring brother or sister, will help to illumine 
your own pathway to the tomb. 

'^The summer glory and winter gloom of the heart, 
are each equally necessary to the perfect unfolding of 
the better part of us. There must be waste, desolate 
places in our souls, mountain ruggedness, barren sands, 
as well as blooming valleys ; there must be great rocks, 
as well as spring blossoms. In order that we may reach 
the height and depth, length and breadth of our mor- 
al and mental being, we must go down with the sinner 
as well as up with the saint. We must learn to under- 
stand sin, and understanding, hate it with an intensity 



3i6 lluinaii Dcvclopuuiit and Progress. 

of abhorrence, so that we may flee it ourselves, and 
teach others how sore, black, and decay-smitten is every 
soul that renounces it not; trying with superhuman- 
might born of Christ to escape from its devil-fish fangs, 
and arm itself against itself with the whole armor of 
righteousness." 

And so life, to be of any worth, must needs be a 
struggle for the mastery of the pure and the good, over 
the vile and the impure; nor must the struggle end, 
until life gives up its essence and the arms of death 
embrace, and dust return to dust. 

And now, dear reader, if upon the perusal of these 
pages, you have been led to see the importance of bring- 
ing your whole life in harmony with the true physiolog- 
ical laws, and of searching into the arcana of nature to 
find out the true way of life, my work will not have been 
in vain, and I will rest content. And, in conclusion, 
let me urge you to endeavor to 

" So live that when thy summons come to join 
The innumerable caravan, which moves 
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death. 
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, 
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 



THE END. 



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i M ' ^ ' tii'lii i iii 



